Passover and Seder
Prayer for the Seder Table
For the table that holds more than food. Where memory becomes a meal and children ask the questions that have no easy answers. A prayer for the tradition that refuses to let you forget.
Lord, we are here tonight. Around this table. With bread and wine and bitter herbs and the weight of a story that is older than any of us.
This is the night we remember. Not because we have to. But because forgetting is its own kind of slavery. Forgetting what you did for our ancestors. Forgetting what you've done for us. Forgetting that freedom is never free and it was never ours to begin with. It was yours to give.
Thank you for this table. For the hands that prepared it. For the faces around it. Some of them aren't here this year. And we feel that absence. But we set the table anyway. Because the story goes on.
You brought your people out of Egypt. Out of the house of bondage. With a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And you're still bringing people out. Out of things they never thought they'd escape. Out of habits. Out of hopelessness. Out of the silent prisons we build for ourselves.
For his mercy endureth for ever. That's the refrain, isn't it? Twenty-six times in one psalm. Like you're afraid we'll forget. So you say it again. And again. And again. His mercy endureth for ever. His mercy endureth for ever. To him who smote Egypt in their firstborn. His mercy endureth for ever. To him who divided the Red Sea into parts. His mercy endureth for ever. Over and over and over. Because mercy isn't a one-time event. It's a rhythm. A heartbeat underneath everything.
Lord, we need that mercy tonight. Not just for what happened three thousand years ago. For what happened this week. For the ways we've failed each other at this very table. For the bitterness we're still chewing on that has nothing to do with herbs.
Bless this food. Bless these people. Bless the ones who should be here and aren't. And bless the stranger. Because we were strangers in Egypt. And you told us never to forget what that felt like.
Tonight we are free. Not because the world is kind. Not because the empire is gone. But because you are faithful. From generation to generation. His mercy endureth for ever.
In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we pray.
Amen.
Listen to This Prayer
Backed by ambient music. Made to be heard, not just read.
Audio version coming soon.