God of resurrection,

    and God of life -

       Holy God we come to you in this week,

       when death seems to be winning, yet again.

For our Asian, AAPI communities, targeted again with hate.

Another beloved child of yours, this time in Memphis,

    killed by police.

And our souls, God,

    our souls are weary with the death-dealing of this world.

So hold us here, we pray.

Hold us in all that hurts this week,

    and begin to whisper to us again

         your call to come alive.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Hold us here, God,

    for there is much in this world

    that seeks to shake our trust in you.

There are powers in our midst,

     that want us to believe our right to have weapons

   is more important

         than our right to dance at Lunar New Year celebrations.

There are principalities that loom over us,

      convincing us to so fear each other,

    we’ll remain unbothered

       when law-keeping is synonymous with brutality.

There is much, God,

    that wants for us to be comfortable with death.

There is much, God,

      that prevents us from hearing your call to life.

So hold us here, God,

    and root our hearts in you,

       that we might not be so overwhelmed by the damage of death,

            that we don’t hear your call to come alive.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Call us again to come alive, God,

     for we are living in days when it is easier to just make it through.

It is easier to turn off the news,

    to avoid the hard conversations,

          to numb ourselves

                   with any number of options.

We are living in days when we are encouraged to ignore,

       maybe more so than ever before.

So in these days,

     remind us again of Mary.

Remind us of the one who ran to you on the road.

Who yelled at you,

     cried on you,

         who fought against death that didn’t have to be.

To her, you spoke the promise of resurrection and life.

For her, you did the impossible, and made her love live again.

So like her, God,

       call us to life.

Call us to fight against all forces

    who seek death needlessly.

Call us to run to you,

       - always to you -

    with our tears, our anger, all we are -

       for it is better to be messy than to be numb.

Meet us on these roads we journey, God,

           and call us again to your promise of life.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

So God of resurrection,

    and God of life,

   we lift up the hard and hurting things to you,

        trusting that you meet us as you find us,

        trusting that your promise of life

            is spoken anew in days like these.

Trusting that promise,

     we pray all together, as you taught us saying…