We call ourselves to remember, dear God, that you are one. We call you to hear our prayer as we struggle for focus. Our world, your world, changes so drastically. We pray for the immediate survivors of the deaths of the famous, like Barbara Bush in the United States and Winnie Mandela in the Republic of South Africa, and of the humble. We pray that we may take from our sharing of all these lives, at whatever distance, things that in surprising ways, can be made to work together for good. We pray that we grow in depth and concentration in our love for you, for we know we are all part of the working together.
We pray for a centering vision for our leaders and for ourselves. As the world works toward a first face-to-face meeting between the heads of North Korea and of the United States, we pray for the wisdom of the negotiators. We pray for abundance of life for all Koreans, North, South and in diaspora.
We pray that diplomatic relations between the United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia persevere in negotiations towards a peaceful solution to any interference in the Syrian civil war so that the innocent civilians of this war-torn country suffer no more.
We pray for a corrective vision for histories, our own history as well as the history of others. We see anti-Semitism rising in Germany, Hungary and elsewhere. We see the presence of alternative views legislatively outlawed in Poland and ridiculed in the United States. We pray that outrageous claims may be replaced by a still more outrageous calm, in our hearts, in our minds, in our speech and in our communities.
We pray for an inclusive view of ourselves and others. Even baboons have worked collaboratively to escape a biomedical research facility with a record of fines and violations in the United States. We pray for refugees and for those who receive refugees. We pray for ourselves, that we may entertain angels unaware.