A Prayer for Women
#women #prayer #Internationwomensday
Earth Mother, Sky Father, Creator and Sustainer of us all;
We acknowledge you as The One who prompts us to reflect.
Today we reflect on your goodness experienced through womankind.
We remember before you women who have touched our lives…
For such women we say Thank You.
We bring names from the past into conscious memory.
From the web of women that glisten in our family tree we silently name –
mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and others we claim as family…
Whether they live in this world or the next we know all are known to you…
God bless our kinswomen.
From the tapestry of significant women who have enhanced our lives
We silently name: teachers, preachers, leaders, mentors and friends…
We give thanks for the rich fabric woven by poets, authors, artists, actors,
dancers, musicians, craftswomen and all who inspire and influence.
God bless inspirational women.
For the hidden skeleton of women who work to change
attitudes and laws in the cause of justice we give thanks.
We remember those who facilitate behind the scenes,
and those who work at the raw edge of human need…
God bless caring women.
We have been enriched by encountering women
who persevere, endure, nurture and support;
Women of patience, prayer and charisma;
Passionate women, practical women, and fun folk…
God Bless nurturing women
From the intuitive nature of woman comes an urge for peace;
We give thanks for this gift and celebrate its application
be it with sibling toddlers, fractious friends or paying clients,
be it by swift action, or hard wrought in boardrooms and chambers;
God bless peace-active women.
From the sparkling spread of history-makers,
women we have never met but whose names and deeds
are notched in our memories as heroes and role-models;
We bring names and recall deeds and marvel…
God bless special women.
For the vast network of workers who keep society functioning:
business-women, home-makers, lawyers, vets, assistants, doctors, nurses,
trades-women, seasonal workers, waitresses, factory workers, motelliers,
presbyters, receptionists, cleaners, clerks, carers, politicians, CEOs and volunteers …
God bless working women.
For the myriad of unremarkable women:
Struggling women, suffering women, and ourselves we pray…
Strengthen our sisterhood as together we work for a better world;
Show us how to become more like the woman we admire.
God bless ordinary women.
Enable us to claim the best in feminist values and feminine wisdom;
Help us reveal the Spiritual within the Material, and the Sacred within the Secular.
With strong threads from the past and rays of bright hope for the future,
Help us weave a faith suitable for today – a mantle worthy of tomorrow’s daughters.
God bless us all. Amen
A poem reflecting on feminine spirituality
Sophia
I am Wisdom, as old as time and as fresh as tomorrow,
I rippled the waters when the earth was without form,
I am the inseparable feminine companion of the Creator,
With the breath of life I entered the human being;
WE are the God who rejoices when all was good.
I am as Ruah, the indefinable breath of God,
I whisper in the minds of the newborn,
I prime the soul and nudge the conscience,
I invoke the awe that prompts human response;
WE are the God who rejoices when all is good.
I am Pentecost, vibrant as fire and as strong as words,
I am as invisible as the wind and as powerful as Love,
I am everywhere and nowhere, my nature is nurture,
Looking will not find me – I am discerned by hearing;
WE are the God who rejoices when all will be good.
written by Rosalie Sugrue, Raumati, New Zealand