A Medicine Prayer by the Children of St. Mark’s

During Lent 2026, our parish read is Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley. Each Sunday morning forum, the adults will gather to discuss various sections, while our Children’s Program is also reading, discussing, and working with the book. You can read an interview with Riley, including some of her prayers, here.

On the first Sunday in Lent, the Children’s Program discussed the various rhythms and structures of our lives, from bedtime routines to getting ready for Christmas each year, and how these routines help us make sense of things and take care of ourselves. We looked up and read various prayers from Black Liturgies that aligned with feelings and experiences we’ve had, like happiness and missing a loved one who has died.

Then we thought about parts of our lives that could use a little more liturgy. We talked about being sick, which has been a recent experience for many of us, and things we do when we’re sick, like: rest our bodies, eat comfort foods, take unpleasant medicine, and watch television.

As a liturgy to try when eating comfort foods, we tried out a guided meditation for mindful eating. You can try one here.

Then we wrote a prayer together, inspired by the prayers from Black Liturgies, specifically for taking medicine that tastes awful:

Dear God,

I think this medicine tastes horrible! Please help me get through it even though it tastes horrible. I pray that all sick people feel better. Thank you for all the people willing to help, like doctors and nurses.

Amen.