We still have a few stages to go, but today we walked the last one that belongs purely to the Northern Way. Now that we are in Arzua, we merge with the pilgrims coming from the French and Primitive ways. That is why today we took a little extra time and soaked up the last quietness of the Atlantic forests and the peace of the country paths. My heart and mind is holding both the joy and the sadness that comes when a significant journey is nearing completion.

With each step today I held the meaningful words of the plowshare prayer in my heart:

Dear blessed creator, dear mother, dear savior
Dear father, dear brother, dear holy other
Dear sibling, dear baby, dear patiently waiting
Dear sad & confused, dear stuck & abused
Dear end of your rope, dear worn out & broke
Dear go it alone, dear running from home
Dear righteously angry, forsaken by family
Dear jaded & quiet, dear tough & defiant
I pray that I’m heard
And I pray that this works
I pray if a prayer has been used as a sword
Against you & your heart
Against you & your word
I pray that this prayer is a plowshare of sorts
That it might break you open
It might help you grow
I pray that your body gets all that it needs
And if you don’t want healing
I just pray for peace
I pray that your burden gets lighter each day
I pray the mean voice in your head goes away
I pray that you honor the grief as it comes
I pray you can feel all the life in your lungs
I pray that if you go all day being brave
That you can go home, go to bed
Feeling safe
I pray you’re forgiven. I pray you forgive
I pray you set boundaries & openly live
I pray that you feel you are worth never leaving
I pray that you know I will always believe you
I pray that you’re heard
And I pray that this works
Amen on behalf of the last & the least
On behalf of the anxious, depressed & unseen
Amen for the workers, the hungry, the houseless
Amen for the lonely & recently spouseless
Amen for the queers & their closeted peers
Amen for the bullied who hold in their tears
Amen for the mothers of little Black sons
Amen for the kids who grow up scared of guns
Amen for the addicts, ashamed & hungover
Amen for the calloused, the wisened, the sober
Amen for ones who want life to be over
Amen for the leaders who lose their composure
And amen for the parents who just lost their baby
Amen for chronically ill & disabled
Amen for the children down at the border
Amen for the victims of our law & order
I pray that you’re heard
And I pray that this works
I pray if a prayer has been used as a sword
Against you & your heart
Against you & your word
I pray that this prayer is a plowshare of sorts

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Jennifer Lajoye

I remember well the childhood days on the farm of plowing the fields. The plowshare furrowing into the soil to turn it over. Then discing and then planting and then cultivating. You work with the soil in order to produce. We too work with the soil of our lives to produce. What needs to be turned over? What needs to be tilled? What needs to be mixed about? What needs to be planted? What are our plowshare prayers? Both the world and its people, when asked the question, “tell me where it hurts?” are hard pressed to not answer with the very honest and vulnerable reply, “Everywhere.”

Lord, lord, we need you.

Isaiah 2:4

⁴ He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

May our plowshare prayers be aligned with the heart of Jesus. Each step – each breath – each day – prayers arising.