2023-01-06 A Prayer: Real Picture

O Lord, measure by measure, line by line, there are things we concede to You, and things we wrestle to give up. On some cosmic plane we will lose some things and gain others. On some timetable according to You goodness, we will surrender some pride but not to indulge the caprice or greed of any adversary. We pray that we see though the grass always seem greener on the other side, that we are a joined brotherhood and sisterhood together fighting without and doubts within; the malaise is what You resolve; the surrender is what is no loss, because it is Your will and Your way forward. So grant us to bless each other, as sinners each of us, but as principled and fighting for a cause called Humanity.

See us concede so much, but never such that we simply feed the addict’s appetite for more power. Lord, the Scriptures say to give when asked, not when gift is needed nor when appetite is rampant, but always (Mt 5:42). Help us be confident we heal in more ways than we lose possessions in, that our gift of time or energy is remedy to our pride or covetous hoarding; see that we not feed the beast but hold our possessions lightly. See that we pray for our enemies out of the riches of our own spiritual odyssey, guidance, prayer, discovery. They, too, are simple men and women. And we praise You for those openings that only a protracted battle with dug-in heels can make us appreciate. Wow, today there are concessions. Wow, today there is friendly dialog. Wow, today we see the humanity in our formerly ironclad opponent; yet we don’t harm them out of malice nor out of any sense of superiority; even though they have shown us their actual, human face.

We pray all this in Your Name, Amen.