A Pentecost Prayer for all Unitarian Universalists

By the Rev. Bob LaVallee

Spirit of life, God of many names, love that surrounds us. We are sick and tired and heartbroken. We are disgusted by an administration that leads with ignorance, greed, and bigotry, an administration supported by so many in this country.

In this time of crisis, we pray not for peace, but for justice.

We pray not for a return to normality, but for a disruption of the systems of racism.

We pray not that the looting of Target will stop, but that the looting of working people by Wall Street will stop.

We pray not for law and order but for the abolition of this mass incarceration system and for the demilitarization of our police.

Before we pray for the end of violent protests, let us pray for the end of the ordinary, everyday violence of denying people the basic needs of housing and health care and food.

Let us remember the arc of history doesn’t bend towards justice on its own. Let us remember that it bends because it’s bent by people who make other people uncomfortable, it’s bent by people who dare to imagine a better way, it’s bent by people who push and yell.

On this Pentecost Sunday, let our tongues be set fire with the spirit of holy anger that compels us to intervene whenever we witness injustice. Let us turn our anger not sideways towards individuals, but upwards, at the systems of white supremacy and capitalism that oppress us all. And let us pray that our holy anger will become holy action.

Amen and blessed be.

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash