By the power of your saving love, Lord,
help our nation overcome
the bias that divides us,
the bigotry our mistrust breeds
the pain that comes of prejudice...
Let us not pretend to you love you
and at the same time
ignore, mistreat or abandon our neighbors:
our brothers and sisters, near and far,
one family, all children of one Father,
one in Christ our brother,
yours in our humanity,
blessed by our diversity...
In the depths of our hearts, Lord,
help us overcome
our racism and prejudice,
our bias and our bigotry,
our narrow-minded thinking
and the ways we rush to judgment
of those we're called to love...
Help us overcome
our pride, our self-importance,
our undeserved rights and privileges,
our denial of the facts, the truth,
our careless disregard of others' pain and plight...
Deliver us from thinking
that no such faults are ours,
from foolishly believing that all now live as one...
Help us move beyond the status quo
that keeps us from real change;
free us from inertia's grip
on ways that things have always been...
Help us overcome
what divides and separates,
what keeps us apart,
what keeps us from being
one nation, in your rule, indivisible
with liberty and justice - for us all...
Grant us freedom, Lord:
freedom to love one another;
freedom to tear down walls;
freedom to welcome the other;
freedom to let go our fear;
freedom to open our minds to your truth;
freedom to open our homes to our neighbors;
freedom to open our hearts and our lives
to share the freedom that's already ours...
That's our prayer this Juneteenth, Lord,
the plea we have to offer - help us do:
what we've not yet done ourselves,
what we can't do on our own,
what we'll never do without your help,
your grace, your strength and blessing...
Amen.
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