Interfaith Day of Prayer – Prayer from John Dorhauer

Holy Spirit of the living God and the risen Jesus, lifeblood of the Church, stirrer of hearts and builder of God’s Shalom, we cry to you from our shadowed valleys of death.

 

Political divisions threaten once tightly knit communities and families in which it has become easier to denounce a sibling with whom we disagree than to love them.

 

Earth itself cries out for release from the chokehold the human community has placed upon it. The rocks themselves cry out for justice.

 

69 million refugees swarm the globe looking for a place they and their children can be fed, rest on a quiet pillow, and earn an honest living. Instead, they are met by closed borders and minds, becoming scapegoats for racist and xenophobic politicians looking for someone to blame for the ailments we all endure.

 

World leader after world leader tries harder to shelter themselves from blame than to take responsibility for creating a safe passageway through a pandemic that wracks lungs, steals breath, disrupts life, and has the entire globe in fear for its life.

 

We are in need of your hope.

 

Our capacity to rejoice in all circumstances is wearing thin; though our desire to reconnect with each other, to renew with passion our courage in the struggle, and to remember the peace that passes understanding has not waned.

 

We are in need of your grace.

 

Our capacity to forgive each other diminishes as our anger deepens, or to forgive ourselves when we falter in the midst of great stress and strife; though we are emboldened by the promise of your resurrection, hope and the belief that though the consequence of sin is death – you have redeemed our lives from the grave.

 

We are in need of your love.

 

Our capacity to let go of anger and fear has us seeing enemy and other at every turn; though our need for comfort from and to a stranger, our desire for deep relationships that abide, and our longing for the warm embrace you offer us as your beloved can turn that anger to joy.

 

We are yours, dear God. Now and forevermore. May your hope, your grace, and your abiding love sustain us on this, our journey in and through the life you have given us.   AMEN

 

 

Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer 

General Minister & President, United Church of Christ 

(2015-present)