Holy and Compassionate One,
we praise you and bless you
in gratitude for your gifts.
We turn to you for guidance
in humility and hope,
O Ground of Our Being,
that we may honestly examine our lives
and the common life we share,
and demand equity and true justice for all.
in humility and hope,
O Ground of Our Being,
that we may honestly examine our lives
and the common life we share,
and demand equity and true justice for all.
God of Grace and Mercy,
may we have the wisdom and will
to tear down the edifices of violence and oppression
that conflate your true and holy peace
with pacification at the point of a sword.
may we have the wisdom and will
to tear down the edifices of violence and oppression
that conflate your true and holy peace
with pacification at the point of a sword.
May we remember that true peace is established
where amity and justice abide
for the least as much as for the great;
where the powerful empower and support
the cry of those who bear the burden of injustice;
and where ease and freedom is available to all
and generated by love of neighbor--
by the renunciation of vengeance and malice,
embracing our kinship with all.
May we always treat each other with the mercy and respect
that we ourselves hope to receive,
no matter the recipient.
May we examine the influence of our fears
in generating anger,
and the influence of our anger
in injuring and demeaning those we encounter.
May we remember
our own failures and sinful impulses
before judging the lives and liberty of others forfeit.
May we choose accountability over vengeance,
and never fool ourselves that we can flourish
if our security is built by crushing our neighbors.
Help us recover a reverence for
and recognition of
the image of God
woven into the blood and bones
of every soul.
May we embody resurrection
in devoting ourselves to the work
of healing
and accountability.
May we be devoted to waging justice in your Name, Lord,
led by our duties and obligations to one another.
May we embody that our well-being
is bound up in the well-being and protection of all.
Almighty One,
your lovingkindness is our shield and our breath:
extend now the balm of your comfort and healing
to those for whom we pray.
Amen.
Written after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd
where amity and justice abide
for the least as much as for the great;
where the powerful empower and support
the cry of those who bear the burden of injustice;
and where ease and freedom is available to all
and generated by love of neighbor--
by the renunciation of vengeance and malice,
embracing our kinship with all.
May we always treat each other with the mercy and respect
that we ourselves hope to receive,
no matter the recipient.
May we examine the influence of our fears
in generating anger,
and the influence of our anger
in injuring and demeaning those we encounter.
May we remember
our own failures and sinful impulses
before judging the lives and liberty of others forfeit.
May we choose accountability over vengeance,
and never fool ourselves that we can flourish
if our security is built by crushing our neighbors.
Help us recover a reverence for
and recognition of
the image of God
woven into the blood and bones
of every soul.
May we embody resurrection
in devoting ourselves to the work
of healing
and accountability.
May we be devoted to waging justice in your Name, Lord,
led by our duties and obligations to one another.
May we embody that our well-being
is bound up in the well-being and protection of all.
Almighty One,
your lovingkindness is our shield and our breath:
extend now the balm of your comfort and healing
to those for whom we pray.
Amen.
Written after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd
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