(begin) In the place where anxiety attempts to dance, may we begin again. Let us begin to cook meals for strangers flavored by compassion. Stir the gumbo of grace given to us by the spirit of God.
Be faithful enough to drink from the cup of courage and set the table of democracy guided by the spirit of love walking humbly with acts of justice. Forgive us for words spoken that demean, marginalize, and undermine creation and the creation of community. Forgive us for allowing the shadow of caste and class to cloud our imagination of what is possible. Forgive us for not speaking truth to power nor speaking truth rooted in love to guide our decisions.
We seek to be a nation where different does not mean deficient, color does not mean caste, and gender is not, and shall not be, restricted by glass ceilings. We seek to be a nation where children are able to laugh and will not hunger in the night and where elders are cared for and celebrated.
May the power of holy mischief urge us to step out of the darkness into the marvelous light. May the soul of this nation be held by the sacred love flowing from the amazing grace of the God who whispers in our hearts that we are called to be better, do better, and live better.
May we make America. May we make an America that is yet to be a United States of America. May we make America—America as a quilt to warm the bodies of the homeless and the timid. May we make America, where those who kneel and those who stand find a seat at the table of democracy. May we make America, where liberty covers the Muslim and the Methodist, the Baptist and the Buddhist, the Hindu and the Holiness, the Jewish and the gentile, the atheist and the Asian, the Indigenous and the immigrant, the Presbyterian and the Pentecostal, the Latino and the Lutheran, the queer and the Quaker, the urban and the suburban, the rural and the Reformed, the southern and the Sikh, the wealthy and the impoverished.
This is our prayer, on this day, in this year, in this century: May we make America. Amen. (end)
Deacon David Pierce
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