Good and gracious God,

2010 was not the year we hoped it to be.
Before we begin this new year 
remind us that we should never be satisfied
with any year.
Remind us that the pursuit 
of heaven on earth should always be our goal.
Remind us that while that goal
always seems to be just beyond our reach,
we are called to reach for it none-the-less.
Remind us that when our arms 
seem to be about to fall out of their sockets
because we must stretch ourselves so far
to reach and pull this planet toward
your peaceable kin-dom here on Earth...
Remind us that you are with us,
that you will strengthen us,
that you still call us...
to a better,
higher,
more acceptable,
way.

Giving God,
May 2011 be a year of blessings.
Not necessarily on ourselves,
but on those in need.
Far too many people come into the new year
eating black-eyed peas and leafy greens
as a way to bring about prosperity -
failing to recognize the abundance 
you have already planted in their lives.
In this false sense of lacking,
all too frequently, we find ourselves
holding back from giving as freely
as you call us to do.
May 2011 be a year of blessings.
May we recognize the blessings we have,
and share so abundantly of them 
that others, whose lives might be truly lacking,
may more fully know the abundance 
and blessings of your creation,
and the extent of your graciousness.

Healing God,
Far too many in this world,
lack the basics of life.
Basics that should be considered human rights.
In 2011 may we open our eyes to the connectedness of life.
By your design, in the words of Dr. King,
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality...”
which means “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Far too many suffer from the injustice
of not having their basic needs met,
their fundamental human rights met;
clean water,
enough food,
safety,
a roof under which to sleep,
access to heath care,
the right to be treated with dignity,
the right to be treated equally,
freedom from slavery,
freedom from discrimination,
access to education,
reasonable privacy,
life,
the pursuit of happiness.
Help us to not only recognize these rights,
but to recognize that when any lack in them,
it is a threat to all of your Creation.
Encourage us to pursue access for all people
to these basic human rights...
May we “not be satisfied
until justice rolls down like waters
and righteousness
like a mighty stream.”

God of all wisdom,
guide us in 2011,
for we have lost our way.
In the fundamentalism of this world,
we have lost sight of the fundamentals of
who you call us to be
and the fundamentals of a peaceable kin-dom realized. 
Call us back from our Earthly desires of 
power, prestige and self-promotion
and return us to the pursuit of
the Divine image in whose likeness we were formed.
May 2011 be the year of our pursuit of
hope,
grace,
peace,
love....

May 2011 be the year of our earnest pursuit of 
You.

AMEN.