SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER-HOLY REGIME CHANGE

WE SPEAK EASILY AND GLIBLY OF "REGIME CHANE."
    WE IMAGINE IT IS SOME REGIME OTHER THAN OUR OWN;
    WE IMAGINE OUR RIGHTFUL CAPACITY TO MAKE SUCH CHANGE ELSEWHERE.

BUT THEN YOU IN SCRIPTURE,
                     YOU MAKING REGIME CHANGE,
                     YOU OVERTHROWING LONG-ESTABLISHED PRIESTLY POWER;
                     YOU MOVING AGAINST THINGS HOLY AND TREASURED AMONG US;
                     YOU CAUSING ENDINGS THAT WE HAD NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE;
                     YOU MAKING NEWNESSES BEYOND OUR CONJURING.

AND JUST BEHIND OLD ELI AND HIS LOSS OF REGIME
  COMES THIS OTHER VOICE FROM YOUR INNER CIRCLE,
        SUMMONING TO RADICAL NEWNESS,
        SUMMONING TO "REPENT," AND THEN,
        A NEW REGIME: "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND."

AND ALL OUR OLD REGIMES----
        OF HEART AND OF MIND,
        OF MONEY AND OF POWER,
        OF PRIVILEGE AND OF ENTITLEMENT---
   ALL ARE IN ONE INSTANT PLACED IN JEOPARDY.

GIVE US COURAGE TO HEAR YOUR SUMMONS;
GIVE TO US FREEDOM TO RELINQUISH OLD REGIMES THAT HAVE GONE STALE
   IN HARDNESS AND IN DISOBEDIENCE;
GIVE US EASE TO RECEIVE NEW GOVERNANCE THAT RESHAPES EVERYTHING,
             EVEN OUR DEEP TREASURES.

WE LIVE BY YOUR WORD; WE AWAIT YOUR NEWS,
    BUT WE DO SO TENTATIVELY, RELUCTANTLY,
    KNOWING THE COST TO ALL THAT IS SETTLED AND OLD.
        SO COME, POWER OF THE NEWNESS, COME HERE, COME SOON.

Walter Brueggemann-Prayers for a Privileged People