NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 9/2

 

Labor Day weekend, Lord!
    And I've been thinking about some work I need to do...

I need to work harder at understanding folks

 whose politics are different from mine,

 even very different from mine..

I need to work at moving

     - beyond their slogans and stump speeches

     - through their deceptions and half-truths

     - above their snarky, sarcastic name-calling

         to get beyond

     - my own boiler plate rhetoric

     - through my own deceptions and half-truths

     - above my snarky, sarcastic name calling

     - out of my bias and prejudice

     - around my stubborn resistance

     - deeper than my flip, untested theses

         and closer to understanding 

             why others believe as they do...

 

I need to dig deeper, Lord,
    to see how they see truth and justice
        where I don't see it at all...

 

 I need to work at acknowledging:
   - that they're as sincere in their beliefs
         as my side is in ours
  - that not all the bad guys are on their side
         and not all the good guys are on mine
  - that neither side has all the answers:
       we're all sometimes right
          and we're all sometimes wrong...

 

So, that's the hard work I face, Lord,

 and to do  it I need to let go:

     - my pride and rigid resistance

     - the conviction that I'm always right

     - the notion that they have nothing to teach me

         and I have all the answers  

     - and assuming that you're on my side, Lord,

         and want nothing to do with the them...

 

That's a lot of work - and to achieve even some of that

    I'll need strength and rest -and so I pray:

protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Amen.

If a music widget doesn't appear below, click here!

Neighbor by J.J. Heller

Sometimes it’s easier to jump to conclusions 

Than walk across the street 

It’s like I’d rather fill the blanks with illusions 

Than take the time to see 

You are trying to close the back door of your car 

You are balancing the groceries and a baby in your arms 

You are more than just a sign in your front yard 

You are my neighbor 

 

I can get so lost in the mission 

Of defending what I think 

I’ve been surfing on a sea of opinions 

But just behind the screen 

 

You are grateful that the work day’s finally done 

You are stuck in miles of traffic, looking at your phone 

You are tryin’ to feel a little less alone 

You are my neighbor 

 

When the chasm between us feels so wide 

That it’s hard to imagine the other side 

But we don’t have to see things eye to eye 

For me to love you like you are my neighbor 

My neighbor 

 

Oh, to fear the unfamiliar 

Is the easy way to go 

But I believe we are connected 

More than we might ever know 

There’s a light that shines on both the rich and poor 

Looks beyond where we came from and who we voted for ‘

Till I can’t see a stranger anymore 

I see my neighbor 

May my heart be an open door 

To my neighbor 

You are my neighbor

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