{"id":342,"date":"2008-12-24T17:00:34","date_gmt":"2008-12-24T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/a-christmas-prayer.html"},"modified":"2008-12-24T17:00:34","modified_gmt":"2008-12-24T17:00:34","slug":"a-christmas-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/a-christmas-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creator God,<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

On this Holy Night, still our frentic pace, and calm our worried minds so that we might experience the miracle and wonder of Christmas.  Send your Holy Spirit to pierce the shadows of these uncertain times, rekindle our hope for the future, and guide us by the shining star of Bethlehem to the humble manger where your Love made flesh awaits.  <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

Thank you for the beauty of this world and for the simple, true blessings of family, friends and loved ones.  <\/span>Guided by your spirit of compassion, help us to be loving, forgiving and gentle with one another.  <\/span>May the life giving spirit of Christ sanctify our celebration so that this might truly be a Holy day and bring us closer together as families and as a community.  <\/span>  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

In this world confounded by the false glitter of materialism and afflicted by the sin of greed, help us to repent of our selfishness and callousness. As we worship your son, born in a manger because there was no room for him at the inn, help us to see in Jesus all who lack the basic dignities of shelter, food, employment and healthcare.  We remember especially those who are out of work or who have lost their homes in this time of economic crisis.  <\/span>May we be in solidarity with the suffering of others and each work to usher in your reign of justice, peace and good will on earth as it is in heaven.    <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

We remember all those serving in our military in Iraq and Afghanistan.  <\/span>May they find joy and know that our thoughts and prayers are with them and with the people of those war torn nations.  <\/span>We pray for Israel and Palestine, the Congo, and cities around the world where violence and strife tear and the fabric of life. As we worship the one called the Prince of Peace, we pray that <\/span>the day come soon when swords are beaten into plowshares and sisters and brothers of every nations, race, and religion live in peace.     <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

Loving God, On this Christmas Eve we give you thanks for your son who loved the outcaste, healed the lame, preached Good News to the poor, was crucified and rose again; who <\/span>was born so that we might be born again.  May our lives reflect our gratitude.<\/font><\/p>\n

Amen <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creator God,   On this Holy Night, still our frentic pace, and calm our worried minds so that we might experience the miracle and wonder of Christmas.  Send your Holy Spirit to pierce the shadows of these uncertain times, rekindle our hope for the future, and guide us by the shining star of Bethlehem to the humble manger where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,19,307],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christians","category-poverty","category-prayer-and-ritual"],"yoast_head":"\nA Christmas Prayer - Progressive Revival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/a-christmas-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Christmas Prayer - 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Paul B. Raushenbush is the moderator of the Progressive Revival blog and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University. .An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., The Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York, and the New America Foundation. Rev. Raushenbush has served at Seattle First Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Chaplaincy at Columbia University and as College and Young Adult Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City. He has appeared on ABC World News Tonight and is a repeated guest on CNN. He has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post and is a contributing editor for Beliefnet.com. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (HCI) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book Christianity and the Social Crisis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c In the 21st Century (HarperOne). His work at Princeton includes strengthening the interfaith community on campus. He is the Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University. Rev. Raushenbush studied religion at Macalester College before attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he graduated with distinction.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/author\/praushenbush"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}