Prayer 1:
Dearest Lord, let us look outside these walls and feel the heartbeat of a city in pain. The construction of roads and buildings, the toxic emissions from our cars, the media’s obsession with appearance and folly – these are transient tragedies that empty our collective soul of the rich spirituality that we all possess. Let us return to the land and embrace the pulse of the natural world. With complete sincerity and eternal love, we lower our heads and pray for the earth.

Lord hear us…..

Prayer 2:
Dearest God, let us enter each classroom in this nation and consider all teachers and pupils in their pursuit of wisdom. Time will pass and it is these kids who will lead our country. May they learn with passion and diligence, with curiosity and wonder. May each teacher instill their students with the unassailable belief that they are capable of shaping a fairer world, that they should be proud of their individuality and that life indeed is the greatest of miracles.

Lord hear us….

Prayer 3:
Dearest God, we leave this hall and shift our focus down the road to the Block. We walk amongst the kooris of Redfern and absorb the reality of their pain and despair. For thousands of years the aborigines cared for this land by living at one with the land. Now they lie hidden in the backstreets of poverty, forced to bare witness to the destruction of a place that gave them life. Beneath the broken bottles, broken faces, broken hearts and broken dreams, let us realize that we are all connected: that our lives are delicately intertwined. Our imagination will be the catalyst for integration not assimilation. May these contrasting cultures find a way to co-exist.

Lord hear us….

Prayer 4:
Dearest God, let us use our imagination to leave this service and courageously enter a world in desperate need of love and kindness. Give us the strength to embody the ideals we believe are necessary to make this a fairer world. May we never underestimate the impact we can have on those who surround us.

Lord hear us……