11 Comments

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred...let me sow love; where there is injury...pardon; where there is doubt...faith; where there is despair...hope; where there is darkness...light and where there is sadness...joy. O Divine Masteer, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to uderstand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. SUBMITTED BY LOIS NICOLETTI.

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I resonated with your thoughts on praying politically, but I also wonder how we might think about encouraging people to pray for their enemies (political or otherwise). I find this the hardest of all prayers. I'm not comfortable saying, "I won't pray for X because I don't like her." That seems to me precisely the time I should be praying for her (or our national leaders). I need to let go of my dislike, my aversion, my discomfort, or even my hate. It's for reshaping me-- not for them-- and many days it feels impossible.

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Praying the Howard Thurman authored prayer aloud just now felt like a cleansing. Thank you for bringing forward.

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Oct 6, 2020Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Wow! Thank you, Diana, for opening my eyes to Howard Thurman! Fabulous poem.

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Oct 6, 2020Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Throughout this difficult time in our country and the world, especially Black Lives Matter. I feel that Howard Thurman is walking with all of us to "Help those with their backs against the wall. - HT

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Oct 6, 2020Liked by Diana Butler Bass

I am finding myself repeating one line from the Lord’s Prayer. Deliver us from evil. If true evil is a consequence of separation from God and each other, the current climate of conflict calls for unity and peace on a grand scale.

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I am going to an in person meeting at church tonight and again Thursday night at a different nearby church with overlapping congregations. We socially distance and wear masks and as a leader I reinforce the mandatory nature of this precaution. As we move closer to the elections tensions are running higher, there is more “acting out/venting” etc and even some potshots directed at leaders or baiting liberals to try to start an argument. My goal first and foremost is to emphasize unity as Christians but the current milieu is very divisive.

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Oct 6, 2020Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Thank you. This is exactly what I've been struggling with lately.

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Oct 6, 2020Liked by Diana Butler Bass

So much of what you're writing here isn't just about politics in prayer; it's also about writing and speaking quality prayers. As you mentioned, asking God for a specific outcome is never good, and in some cases, it can be harmful. Even in a private prayer session at someone's hospital bed with their family, asking for a specific outcome isn't wise. What if it doesn't happen? Does that mean that God doesn't love that person? Does that mean that God wants that person to suffer? These are the kinds of dangers that we face when writing and speaking prayers, both publically and privately.

When I took my worship class in seminary, we dedicated a weekly assignment to a prayer journal that taught us different kinds of prayers and how to use our language appropriately in many different situations. It's a good exercise for clergy to continue working on prayer.

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