A New Creed for followers of Jesus
by Dorothee Soelle
I believe in God
who did not create an immutable world
a thing incapable of change
who does not govern according to eternal laws
that remain inviolate
or according to a natural order
of rich and poor
of the expert and the ignorant
of rulers and subjects
I believe in God
who willed conflict in life
and wanted us to change the status quo
through our work
through our politics.
I believe in Jesus Christ
who was right when he
like each of us
Just another individual who couldn't beat city hall
worked to change the status quo
and was destroyed
looking at him I see
how our intelligence is crippled
our imagination stifled
our efforts wasted
because we do not live as he did
every day I am afraid
that he died in vain
because he is buried in our churches
because we have betrayed his revolution
in our obedience to authority
and our fear of it
I believe in Jesus Christ
who rises again and again in our lives
so that we shall be free
from prejudice and arrogance
from fear and hate
and carry on his revolution
and make way for his kingdom
I believe in the Spirit
that Jesus brought into the world
in the brotherhood of all nations
I believe it is up to us what our earth becomes
a valley of tears starvation and tyranny
or a city of God
I believe in a just peace
that can be achieved in the possibility of a meaningful life
for all people
I believe this world of God's
has a future
Amen” ~ Dorothee Soelle
An alternate Lord’s Prayer
Love this!
O Thou! The Breathing Life of all, Creator of the Shimmering Sound that touches us.
Help us breath on holy breath feeling only you—this creates a shrine inside, in wholeness.
Let your counsel rule our lives, clearing our intention for co-creation.
Let all wills move together in your vortex, as stars and planets swirl through the sky.
Give us the food we need to grow through each new day, through each illumination of life’s needs.
Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames, and we constantly forgive what others hide.
Don’t let us enter forgetfulness, the temptation of false appearances.
To you belongs each fertile function: ideals, energy, glorious harmony—during every cosmic cycle.
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You can see why I selected this prayer as it exemplifies the prayer to the Cosmic Christ! There are severl more and various translations of the beatitudes included in Neil Douglas-Klotz’ ‘Prayers of the Cosmos’, published by HarperOne, 1990.