Today in our prayers for the people of Mauritius.

Prayer for Peace

Kenneth McLaughlin

Creator, redeemer, and sustainer of the universe—

The pathway of peace is not an easy one. It requires us to discover and declare, and to be disciplined. And so, hear our prayer this day.

Help each of us to discover and declare the reality of Diversity.
Every person, every living organism, indeed all within the universe shouts the diversity within and around us. Every. Single. Moment. We pray that we will, with joy, live every moment in recognition and gratitude for the diversity you have created.

Help each of us develop the discipline of Inclusion.
Peace cannot, and will not, exist until we live with radical hospitality and acceptance of one another. Make us destroyers of the walls of prejudice, exclusion, and ignorance. Make us builders of bigger and bigger tables of love and generosity. Forgive with your grace our failures to include.

Help each of us develop a lifetime belief in Belonging.
We cannot live in isolation and ignore that peace will remain elusive until we live in community—family, neighbor, congregation, nation, and planet. Help us memorize by heart and then use these simple words: “I need you. You need me. We all need one another.”

Help us become humble recipients of the gift of Unity.
We are well on our journey down the pathway when we discover that lives of diversity, inclusion and belonging give us the gift of unity. May we deal with the daily struggles that inevitably threaten our unity and bring us to understand that the state of unity is not ever the state of perfection.

Finally, bring us to declare through our words and works that peace most likely will not look like we imagine, but rather will be when the hungry are fed, the greedy are tamed, violence is controlled, and everyone can have shelter, clean water, medicine, and education. Even precious peace will still not be a state of perfection.

May this be so, we pray.

Amen.