Bruce Reyes-Chow: A Prayer for Political People of Faith
This week someone stumbled upon an old blog post that I had written about guns and I was reminded again of the ways that politics and faith can so often turn into such a place of toxicity. I admit that I simply do not understand the motivations behind those who choose to engage in particular ways, but I do my best to live and speak my faith in ways that I believe God leads me to.
That said, because I do believe that faith is inherently political, I must still engage knowing that often what I say, write and do will elicit interaction that I may not always expect or welcome. I also know that, while I think I have done a pretty good job at publicly reining in own my snark, name-calling and asshattery, my internal voice is just as nasty as some of the comments I see.
I A few years ago, I offered this prayer of confession, so I thought I would repost it here as a reminder of the ways that I can get myself into trouble for all the wrong reasons.
A Prayer for Political People of Faith
God of all humanity, Your people come to You in prayer.
Remind us of Your calling to be your passionate, gracious and faithful servants in the world.
When we forget our own history and story,
Forgive us.
When we do not welcome the stranger,
Forgive us.
When we do not honor our neighbor,
Forgive us.
When we deny the humanity of any person,
Forgive us.
When our passion turns to persecution,
our anger turns to animosity
and righteousness turns to wrath
Forgive us.
When we repay evil with evil with our minds, hearts or hands
Forgive us.
Be with your people in our passionate actions of faith,
have mercy on us when we falter
and renew our spirits for the journey
Amen.
As with all of my prayers, please feel free to use it as you see fit. I do not require attribution, but would love to know if/how you used the prayer . . . and how folks responded.