New Year's Body Prayer

Galileo Church’s worship begins with a “body prayer” each Sunday, employing simple motor movements to engage our whole selves in conversation with God. On the first Sunday of 2020, this is how we prayed.

Church, tonight we’re praying a New Year’s blessing for ourselves, our beloveds, our neighbors, and our enemies. Start with your arms crossed broadly over your heart.

Dearly beloved and almighty God, sovereign of the universe and Lord of our lives, hear our prayer on this first Sunday of a new year. The passing of time is a good gift that you’ve given to us, and you remember that we mark it with reverence, knowing that you have been the keeper of our past, and you will be the keeper of our future.

O God who is love, by whom we know love, for this new year we pray your blessing on our hearts. May this be a year that we know beyond doubt’s shadow that we are loved, by you first and best of all, by our life companions, by our family of choice. And may we give freely of our love, finding space in our hearts to love each other, and forgive each other, and help each other to new heights of integration and integrity. May we not neglect to love you with all our heart.

Church, bring your pointer fingers to your temples. Give yourself a little massage there.

O God by whose logic the worlds were created, we pray your blessing on our minds. May this be a year of wonder and discernment, a year of clarity and decision. May our minds be blown by acts of courage and compassion, our own and others’. May our minds be opened in relationship with people different from ourselves. May our minds absorb the mysteries of your universe as they are revealed to us in math and science, art and literature, history and poetry and all the learnings of our ancestors. May we not neglect to love you with all our mind.

Church, flex a muscle or two, your choice. Feel your body’s strength.

O God who was enfleshed in Jesus of Nazareth, who became a body in order to learn our lives, we pray your blessing on our bodies. May this be a year of strength and health, or, if health is not to be ours, a year of compassion and acceptance. May we learn to be kind to our bodies, making healthful decisions, resting consistently and without shame, and rejoicing in our reflection. May we be equally kind to the bodies of others, sharing generously so that all may flourish with food and shelter, medical care and rest, and safety from harm. May we not neglect to love you with all our strength.

Church, now you need a way to represent your spirit – I suggest jazz hands, but for you it might be more of a full-body sparkle, or a third-eye pressure point.

O God who is Spirit, whose Spirit hovers over the earth, moving like wind among and through us, we pray your blessing on our spirits. You have blown your life-breath into us, and so we move through the world inhaling and exhaling not just air but You, You everywhere and always. May we know your presence every minute of the coming year. May we share your presence with everyone we meet in the coming year. May your spirit leak from us, exude from us, be carried by our speech and our touch, so that we fairly glow with the Spirit of the risen Christ, a comfort to those who hurt and a strength to those who falter. May even our enemies recognize You-in-us this year. And may we not neglect to love you with all our soul.

Church, bring your hands to your heart in a posture of devotion.

Because, O God, we are completely yours, only yours, yours alone. This could be the year of incredible growth in love for each of us, and all of us together – loving you with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. May it be so, with your help. Amen.