Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 9/17

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Our nation is divided, Lord:
the gap between the sides
could widen the Grand Canyon
and stretch it coast to coast...

Division and acrimony,
bitterness, mistrust, animosity and prejudice,
ill will, sarcasm, hostility and snark,
name calling, rancor and hardness of heart:
and all this, Lord,
on both sides of the divide...

It's painful to see revealed, Lord,
how divided, how broken is this nation,
how deep our common wounds,
how much in need of healing are her people,
how helpless and weak we are,
too stubborn 

    to cede our opinions for truth,
    our greed for justice,
    our comfort for self-sacrifice,
    our partisanship for consensus...

 

And you know well, Lord,
there's no easy fix here,
no overnight solution,
no facile reconciliation:
    our wounds are much too deep 

    and of the kind that only time and sacrifice

    might ever heal...

Healing...

 

We need healing, Lord,

we need to pray for healing;

we'll never right these wrongs all on our own

or salvage this land's glory

by our self-determination;

we cannot not, we will not do this by ourselves

but only with your help and strength,

your mercy and your grace...

And so, we pray, Lord...

We pray your counsel help us know
    the depths of our division...

We pray your wisdom guide us      

    far beyond our petty schemes...

We pray you give us strength
    to rebuild all that we've dismantled...

We pray for perseverance
    to complete the task at hand...

We pray for prudence, Lord,

    that we might do the next right thing...

 

Renew our faith in you, Lord,
    who made us and endowed us

        with the will to do what's right...

 

Send your Spirit, Lord, to shape us

    and to mold us in your image,

 to strengthen and refresh us 

        for the work that's ours to do...

Remind us, Lord:

    what alienates and divides us

        is just plain wrong 

    and betrays your plan for humankind

        in our nation, in the world...

 

Make us one, Lord!

E pluribus unum, 

make us one!

 

From the many we are, Lord,

    call us to be one;

from the diversity we embody,

    call us to be one;

from the differences we manifest,

    call us to be one;

from all races, colors, creeds, Lord,

    call us to be one;

far beyond the claims of politics

    call us to be one... 

out of all that might divide us, Lord,

    call us to be one.. 

Amen.

    

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