A Prayer for Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Differences

O God,

Thank you for the differences that exist
between person and person and
between people and people.

Thank you for the great variety that exists
in skin tone,
in language,
in accent,
in ethnicity,
in religion,
in nationality,
in social background,
in lifestyle,
in philosophy,
and
in perspective.

Forgive us for allowing our differences
to become divisions;
forgive us for letting the fact of our differences
become a justification for conflict.

Help us to embrace the differences
that should be embraced
and to celebrate the differences
that should be celebrated.

Help us to overcome the divisions
that should be overcome
and to heal the divisions
that should be healed.

In too many cases we have
put a thin layer of veneer
over gaping cracks so that
when just a little pressure is applied
the cracks open up again and
when a lot of pressure is applied
the cracks become much wider.

Show us how to go beyond applying veneer;
show us how to do something about the cracks.

Amen.