Tax Day Prayer

Income Tax Day

On this day of internal revenue
    some of us are paid up,
    some of us owe,
    some of us await a refund,
    some of us have no income to tax.

But all of us are taxed,
    by war,
    by violence,
    by anxiety,
    by deathliness.

And Caesar never gives any deep tax relief.

We render to Caesar . . .
    to some it feels like a grab,
    to some it is clearly a war tax,
    to some – some few –
        it is a way to contribute to the common good.

In any case we are haunted
    by what we render to Caesar,
    by what we might render to you,
    by the way we invest our wealth and our lives,
    when what you ask is an “easy yoke”:
        to do justice
        to love mercy
        to walk humbly with you.

Give us courage for your easy burden, so to live untaxed lives.  Amen.

From Walter Brueggemann's Prayers for a Privileged People ((C) Abingdon, 2008).