Maundy Thursday Prayer

by Kerry Greenhill

Left: We come to the table:
Right: eager, uncertain,

L: confident, unworthy,
R: distracted, fulfilled,

L: trusting, ashamed.
R: We come to be fed, to tell stories,

L: to prepare for the day to come,
R: to remember, to celebrate,

L: to enjoy, to find answers,
R: to be in community.

L:We come like disciples,
R: like followers, like friends,

L: to learn once again
R: what we think we already know,

L: to be surprised and to sorrow,
R: to be forgiven and made new.

L: We come for the meal
R: and are given new signs and symbols:

L: bread and cup,
R: body and blood;

L: towel and basin,
R: water and love.

L: We come to receive what is
R: given to us, given for us,

L: forgiven of us,
R: given for us to do:

L: to love one another,
    to be broken and poured out,

L: to lay down our lives
    to take up our lives

L: from the One who is Life.
R: May it be so in remembrance of Christ.

All: Amen.

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Permission is granted for use in corporate setting. Copyright © 2012 The Upper Room. Used with permission.

Kerry Greenhill is a Deacon who serves as Field Coordinator for Imagine No Malaria in the Rocky Mountain Conference (UMC), and as Communications Manager for the health care advocacy organization Family Voices Colorado. Kerry's husband and two cats have learned to adapt their lives to the Downton Abbey schedule.