Too often, God, we approach your beloved and beautiful world as Jacob approached his long-ago betrayed brother Esau. We know that we have despoiled an amazing inheritance:
- saturating our atmosphere with an intolerable load of carbon dioxide
- depriving many species of habitat and nutrition until extinction claims them
- approaching economic systems nationally and internationally with only one model
- preserving cultural hegemonies as if only some matter
- trying to stuff an army of vulnerable women and children in front of us to absorb fully predictable retaliation
- and on and on.
Too often, God, we forget that in the actual event Esau met his brother with extravagant welcome. We forget that in our personal and national and international problems lurk clues to solutions:
- debt management based less on depriving the already deprived and more on equitable sharing
- race relations that replace imperial patterns with individual rights
- gender relations that refuse assault and rape and protect individuals from them
- climate and agricultural practice with respect for sustainability
- and on and on.
Our prayers are prayers of gratitude for the intelligence and determination you have made part of our birthright, each and every one of us. We thank you as well for the warning, and the encouragement, enfolded in the story of Jacob and Esau. Save us from the temptation to bargain away a birthright. Save us from the temptation to claim what belongs to another. Enliven us to the possibility of rebuilding harmony.
We pray with the faith that with you all things are possible.
Amen.
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