Holy One,
In your image
You have created humankind,
in great diversity.
We give thanks for the
differences—
Holy One,
In your image
You have created humankind,
in great diversity.
We give thanks for the
differences—
of cultures and ethnicities,
of histories and life-stories,
of skin colour and language and
hearts that love the world.
We watch in horror as Power
desecrates Black and Brown bodies;
walks on their sacredness,
kills and subjugates,
in thousands of ways,
hidden and overt.
We must not stop at watching—
held back from right action by our horror
or seeming powerlessness.
Grant us hearts that listen and learn;
egos that are willing to accept
when our own racism is called out.
Grant us courage,
to disassemble the systems,
the stories, the mythos,
that privilege whiteness over all others.
Give us your Holy Spirit’s wind
to call out racism in all its forms—
inside our hearts,
inside the church,
and in your world,
give us the strength,
the wisdom and the will
to root out White Fragility,
and White Supremacy,
so that they would never again do harm,
never again take away,
never again kill.
Help us to be anti-racist,
in all that we say,
in all that we do,
in all that we are.
It is time. It is well past time.
God of all creation,
bless us all with what we need,
to march on.
To live this work of anti-racism.
Today.
Every day.
Always.
In Jesus’ name.
May it be.
—A prayer by the Right Rev. Richard Bott. Originally posted on Facebook. Moderator Bott encourages the sharing of prayers he posts throughout his term.