A PRAYER FOR THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Amos 8

4 Hear this, you that trample on the needy,

and bring to ruin the poor of the land,

5 saying, “When will the new moon be over

so that we may sell grain;

and the sabbath,

so that we may offer wheat for sale?

7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

Surely I will never forget any of their deeds...

9 On that day, says the Lord God,

I will make the sun go down at noon,

and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,

and all your songs into lamentation;

I will bring sackcloth on all loins,

and baldness on every head;

I will make it like the mourning for an only son,

and the end of it like a bitter day.

Why are you so angry, God?

We are just going about our business

We like to build and buy

Make a living

Build up our treasures

Keep them safe for a rainy day

What's wrong with that?

We have to keep our families

and neighborhoods safe

So we need gates and fences

to keep the unwanted and scary out

What's wrong with that?

Why are you so angry, God?

We are just going about our business

We need to make the world safe

We must guard our country against our enemies

So we call upon our young to fight

and give them the best weapons

What's wrong with that?

We like to relax and have fun

Get away from the stress and mess

So we entertain ourselves with sex and gambling

Enjoy leisure while "others" wait on us

What's wrong with that?

Why are you so angry, God?

We are just going about our business

Forgive us O God

in our zeal to be happy

we trample over others' lives

enslaving and stealing from them

so that we can profit

Forgive us O God

we turn up the music

to drown out the world's pain

rushing by their hurts and needs

so we can dance

Forgive us O God

we turn to armies and weapons

to protect our way of life

bombing and invading and killing

so we can rule over others

Forgive us O God

our selfish desires sow

the seeds of our destruction

We have "troubled our own house"

and we shall "inherit the wind."

Forgive us O God

Amen