A Prayer After an Election

Lord and Creator of the cosmos,

In whose hands the entire creation is held,

Remind us again of your faithful care and sustaining love.

Teach us again to look for signs of your reign in a troubling world:

Servant love in a world of violence;

Peaceable kindness in a world of blunt power;

Persistent hope in a world given to despair.

In these moments when disagreement and difference seem to rule,

Remind us of your image, reflected in all of us,

Rich and poor, left and right,

Young and old, despairing and delighted.

Remind us of your image that we all bear,

And move us to regain

Whatever common ground may have been lost between us.

 In these moments that feel heavy with the weight of history,

Remind us of your steadfast attention to your world:

Each day, a rising sun,

Lengthening shadows as fall turns to winter,

Trees shedding their leaves as they prepare for the cold,

Cool winds preparing the land for winter rest . . . 

The steady rhythms of your creation

Pointing us to your dogged attention 

To your world.

In these moments when pundits turn their attention 

to the halls of power,

Remind us of those you called blessed:

The poor, the meek,

Those who weep,

The peacemakers and those thirsty for justice.

Lord and creator of the cosmos,

It is the morning after

The week after

The moment after.

In this moment and in every moment,

Remind us that it is the self-giving love of Jesus 

That gives us new life.

Remind us, and give us the power to respond 

as you invited us so long ago:

doing justice and loving kindness and walking humbly with you.

Amen.

Photo by Rina Filatova on Unsplash