Posts Tagged ‘justice’
January 24, 2021
Thank you Lord for our democracy holding and a peaceful transfer of power.
Help us to recommit to democratic values,* repair our foundations, and rebuild.
Turn us from the sins of anger, hate, factionalism, and resentment. (Galatians 5:20)
Lead us in your paths of justice, kindness, and mercy. (2 Chronicles 7:14; Ps. 25:4-5; Galatians 22-23)
May we, in the words of our Vice President,** emerge from our trials with new wisdom, imagining new possibilities. Help us to open our hearts to one another.
May we, with your help, be so zealous and successful at pursuing your justice and peace that we, like Hezekiah and his people, find ourselves rejoicing at the speed of our progress. (2 Chronicles 29:36).
Amen
*As identified in the National Council For The Social Studies C3 Framework: honesty, mutual respect, cooperation, attention to multiple perspectives, equality, liberty, and freedom.
**Paraphrased from Vice President Kamala Harris’ remarks at the Covid-19 Memorial Service, January 19, 2021.
Tags:anger, change, country, democracy, democratic values, factionalism, future, hate, healing, justice, kindness, mercy, partisan politics, peace, politics, trials, United States, USA, wisdom
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January 10, 2021
You reap what you sow. (Gal. 6:7-10)
Forgive us Lord, for planting and nurturing the seeds of hate, anger and resentment.
Forgive us for our willingness to dismiss and even mock our fellow citizens.
Forgive us for pursuing the folly and comfort of easy answers.
Forgive us for following false prophets.
Help us heal the wounds and scars on our land and among our people.
Help us to plant anew, and to pull the weeds that infect our current discourse.
Guide us to a future harvest of justice and wisdom, of love and compassion.
Amen.
Tags:anger, compassion, country, hate, heal, healing, justice, love, partisan politics, politics, Prayer, resentment, United States, USA, wisdom, wounds
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December 27, 2020
Light of the world, shine in our hearts, that we might see and act with compassion.
Shine in our minds that we might love justice, and act wisely.
Dispel our fears, our anger, our resentments, our sorrows and despair.
Shine on our hands that we might reach out in love.
Shine on our feet that we might find the path of peace.
Guide us O Lord through the new year.
Amen
Tags:anger, compassion, country, despair, fear, guidance, hope, justice, light, love, moving forward, new year, peace, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom
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November 15, 2020
Today’s prayer comes from a statement on healing our country issued by The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral, on November 7, 2020.
We pray for this nation and for our leaders. We pray for patience and endurance. We pray that as we move forward, no one is left behind. We pray that in all we do, may we be guided by the prophet’s call to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Tags:compassion, faith, harmony, healing, humility, justice, love, mercy, National Cathedral, politics, Prayer, struggle, United States, USA
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November 8, 2020
As we start a new chapter in our nation’s history we share the following prayer from the encyclical “All Brothers” published by Pope Francis on October 3, 2020. The encyclical provides guidance for our civic lives. The prayer is titled “A Prayer to the Creator” and appears in paragraph 287. Let us commit ourselves to our common good.
“Lord, Father of our human family,
you created all human beings equal in dignity:
pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit
and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter,
dialogue, justice and peace.
Move us to create healthier societies
and a more dignified world,
a world without hunger, poverty, violence and war.
May our hearts be open
to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
May we recognize the goodness and beauty
that you have sown in each of us,
and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects,
and shared dreams. Amen.”
Tags:brotherhood, common good, country, encyclical, future, justice, politics, Pope Francis, Prayer, shared dreams, United States, unity, USA, wisdom
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September 20, 2020
We thank you Lord for those who build your kingdom –
- for those who step forward to care for us, even at risk to themselves;
- for those who accept the call to military service;
- for those who, despite fear and threats, take action in the pursuit of justice;
- for those who speak up to defend rather than diminish our democratic ideals of community and trust;
- for those working to ensure all can vote;
- for those who feed the hungry and provide support to those who have lost their jobs;
- for those who shelter the homeless;
- for those who educate our children;
- for those who comfort the grieving;
- for those who reach out in hope and healing.
Bless all of these who are doing your kingdom work here and now.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
Tags:community, country, democracy, healing, hope, justice, kingdom, politics, Prayer, service, trust, United States, USA
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September 13, 2020
Today’s prayer is adapted from Romans 12:9-21 and 14:17-19.
Teach us to love O Lord –
- to share, not hoard or waste, our resources and assets;
- to welcome the stranger;
- to hate what is evil yet cling to what is good;
- to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer;
- to forgive even those who harm us and ever focus forward on what we might be if we loved others as you do.
Help us to find the ways that lead to peace and mutual learning.
Guide us with your Holy Spirit as we seek the justice, peace, and joy that love can bring.
Support us Lord, as we confront evil, so that we might not be overcome, but might overcome evil with good.
Amen
Tags:country, evil, good, joy, justice, love, overcoming, peace, politics, Prayer, United States, USA
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August 2, 2020
Today’s prayer is adapted from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
Lord, please help us protect our elections which are the heart of our democracy.
Guide us in our responsibilities as citizens that we may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for our common good.
Ensure the faithful administration of our voting processes so that the rights of all may be protected.
And in our thoughts and in our actions, help us to align ourselves with your justice and mercy and grace so that we might be a people at peace among ourselves.
Amen
Tags:democracy, elections, grace, justice, mercy, peace, politics, Prayer, United States, USA, wisdom
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July 26, 2020
Lord, give us the courage to move forward and not fall back –
- courage to work through our fears,
- courage to put aside the old patterns of exclusion and denial,
- courage to confront our hate and anger,
- courage to care for one another.
Give us the courage to challenge –
- mendacity,
- fake news,
- narratives of hate and fear,
- paranoia and conspiracy theories masquerading as facts.
Give us the courage to bridge our divides and work together to build a future better than our past –
- more just,
- more equitable,
- more merciful,
- more compassionate.
Guide us O Lord, teach us your paths, show us your ways, guide us in your truth and give us hope. (Ps. 25:4-5).
Amen
Tags:care, compassion, country, courage, facts, fear, hope, justice, mendacity, moving forward, politics, Prayer, truth, USA
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July 19, 2020
We recommend this letter from the Missouri Union Presbytery.
Lord, we thank you for the life John Lewis and his dedication to justice.
Let us too hear and follow the words of your prophets –
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 22:3
And of your Son –
“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39
And of your disciples –
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God. . . Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Help us O Lord to find ways to move forward together and build a more just economy and culture.
Amen
Tags:country, courage, economic justice, John Lewis, justice, neighbor, politics, Prayer, prophets, USA
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