Prayer of the Day | Resurrection Sunday | Easter 2024

I've always struggled a bit on Easter. What many hear as a victory tune (Alleluia!) I've primarily seen, most years, as a protest song. Something like, "Alleluia! God's desire is war no more and the abolition of that torturous prison called Hell--as well as the hells we make here. And we've made plenty. So, let's do something about it. Let's be Resurrection people and get at it." And so on. Especially this year, amid a genocidal bombardment and decimation that continues in Palestine, funded and armed in large part by the Empire in which we live and move, it seems off-key, to say the least, to sing of "victory" without some sort of nuance. 

All that said, here's a prayer of the day for Easter. I hope it's helpful. And I hope that it takes the above into consideration. 

Also: 

Turn your phone to a horizontal position for easier reading. 

Peace, all. 

Tom

[ image: Harrowing of Hell/Hades, Dionisius, 1500 ]

Prayer of the Day 

Your poets confess, O God, that “Hope is to hear the melody of the future.” 

“And faith,” they say, “is to dance to it.” 

Today your melody arrives. 

It sings. It takes shape, as alleluia. 

Alleluia! Death and Hell are destroyed. 

Alleluia! The hungry are filled. 

Alleluia! War and suffering are no more. 

Alleluia! Already. Not yet. 

Alleluia! Already. But sort of not at all. 

Alleluia! And Yet. Alleluia! Not Yet! Alleluia! 

Alleluia! May this song possess our hearts.

Alleluia! May it be our banner, our anthem, our joy. 

Alleluia! May it move us–through passion for justice and peace–

until the cry of all the crucified has truly ceased; 

until spears are shattered and bows are set into clouds; 

until tyrants are torn from thrones, 

lions with lambs, lying on the ground; 

until there is no power or scepter or crown; 

and the only rule that remains is Love. 

Alleluia. Love. And Love, alone. 

Alleluia. So it is. 

Alleluia. Upon our lips. 

Alleluia! For this, we dance. 

Alleluia. May it be so. 

Alleluia. Soon, we pray. 

Soon and forever more. 

Amen.