This Week's Prayer

Words of Black Elk:

“Hear me, four quarters of the world: A relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth. Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand. Look upon these faces of children without number, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet. This is my prayer; hear me.”

Dear four quarters of our one world,

We are your children. Give us eyes to see and the strength to understand.

The United Nations says we are in the midst of the worst migration crisis since World War II. Eleven million people were uprooted by violence last year, most propelled by conflict in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Conflict and extreme poverty have also pushed tens of thousands out of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.In China mass migration of parents looking for work has left millions of children behind in rural areas. Thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya, an ethnic minority from Burma, have fled from poverty and persecution. Give us eyes to see and strength to understand.

Housing is a human right, increasingly denied in our country as rent for low- and middle-income earners has skyrocketed. Many families now pay more than half their income in rent. 75% of the families that need housing assistance are not getting it. Yet the plan in the House of Representatives is to slash further our already woefully underfunded housing assistance programs. Give us eyes to see and strength to understand.

Reproduction freedom for women faces further restrictions. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law that will force most of the state's abortion clinics to close. In Florida, the governor signed an abortion waiting-period bill requiring women to make two clinic visits and wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. Give us eyes to see and strength to understand.

May we face the winds and walk the good road:
Like the Spanish Parliament passing a new law making it easier for descendants of Jews who were expelled from or fled Spain during the Inquisition to apply for citizenship;
Like those attending the Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity in Cambodia.
Like all whose work and ministry bring healing and hope to their communities and country.

Look upon these faces of children without number. Give us strength to walk the soft earth, eyes to see, strength to understand. This is our prayer; hear us.