Loving Lord,
We would worship you today in Spirit and Truth,
Which is good because we cannot gather with
Others, as has been our practice from ages past!
But though we remain un-gathered, still we “gather,“
Virtually and truly with myriads of the unseen hosts
From before, from now, and also from hereafter,
To celebrate your holiness, to delight in your love,
And to declare your presence with us now and ever!
We gather in “un-gathered” assemblies to hear again
Your call to follow the love and holiness you have
Embodied in your one and only Son, our one and only
Lord and Messiah, Jesus! We consider again his call
To deny the self-life and enter in to the cross-life,
All the way to a dying and rising with him that promises
Rebirth for the world, its nations and tribes, us and all,
A re-assembling of all earth’s un-gathered healed whole!
Loving Lord, as we—un-gathered-gatherings—assemble
Before, with, and in your presence, let our prayers bring
Assurance to all near and far who serve the sick, that
Their attentive and trained touch becomes for the stricken
Your touch that tenderly and powerfully arrests viral attack,
And, let the cumulative impact of their multiple touches
Gather together sacramentally to become streams of mercy
Flooding our dying deserts with Edenic blessing and fruit.
In the name above all names, amen!