“We are brilliant at survival, but brutal at it. We tend to slip out of togetherness the way we slip out of the womb, bloody and messy and surprised to be alone.” — Adrienne Marie Brown

Our families, churches, communities and institutions are churning in the binaries of right and wrong, good and bad, blue and red. In our desire to win, we have harmed the very people and the creation that God called us to love and care for. What are we doing? This is not how it was supposed to go. Hate and division in Jesus name? No. Not that. Never that. We have to believe that we can change. We have to believe that God can change us.

Almighty God, in our fear and insecurity, we believe that you are only slightly mighty and that it is up to us to control the outcomes. We grasp at power, silence enemies, and dominate those weaker than ourselves because we are afraid that you will not get it right. Forgive our failure to trust you with our fears. Forgive our audacity in othering members of your holy family. We have made a mess of things and need you to pull us out of the pits we have dug for ourselves. Help us to believe that another world is possible. Help us to believe another world is on her way – a world where none will harm or destroy on all your holy mountain. Reach out your hand and save us from all things that do not align with your gospel message of justice and love. Make us more like Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.