A Prayer For Worship (Elizabeth Archer Klein)

Friend of Leighton and pastor Elizabeth Archer Klein crafted this prayer for her congregation the week after the terrible events in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Dallas, for Sunday, July 10, 2016. It is a good prayer for any broken time.
Lord,
We are a broken people in a Nation filled with pain and division.
The news has relentlessly shown us black men being killed,
and police officers gunned down.
Our constant access to horrific images
has pierced our hearts and souls in terrible ways.
We deeply regret everything
we have done to contribute to these divisions
And everything we have not done to repair them.
But there is something in this nightmare that reminds us
that we who were blind, are seeing new truths.
We can no longer pretend that racism isn’t harming all of us.
Our nausea speaks that we are ready to change.
We no longer want to live in a world
where things like this can happen.
We need you.
We need you to be our Father,
to teach us and show us a path forward.
We need you to be our Savior, to fix all those things in us
that would be ruled by fear, or hate, or false arrogance.
We need you to be our Mother,
to hold us, and whisper it will be ok,
and things can get better.
We need your Spirit to mend the brokenness
and shine a light in so many dark places.
We sit here, remembering what you have promised.
You have said that you are the bright morning Star.
You are the Alpha, and the Omega.
You are our Shepherd.
You lead us to still waters.
You fill our cups to overflowing.
Your Word and Holy people throughout the Centuries
have shown us,
In the name of the Christ,
there is neither Jew or Greek,
slave or free,
male or female,
Black or White,
Asian or Islander,
Native or Hispanic,
or any other difference.
We are ALL one in you.
We are all ONE in you.
We are all one in YOU.
You have already made us one.
What you have put together, we cannot divide.
Give us the power to act like it,
though the broken looking glass of our world
has thrown a million shards into our fragile minds and hearts.
Pour out your power, O Lord.
We are waiting.
We are pleading.
We are ready.
Amen.