As of October 31, 2011, according to the U.N. Population Fund, there will be 7 billion people on the planet. China and India are the two most populous nations. Large challenges face the peoples of the Earth as a result of this population explosion — poverty and the ever-growing global gap between the haves and the have-nots, food and water shortages, homelessness and an increase in refugees wandering from one place to another, urban problems stemming from people unable to work or provide for their families elsewhere.

And so we pray this news . .

7 billion people
crowded on this glorious planet.
Choices must be made
and actions initiated
for the common good.
O God of Many Names,
help us to see that
we are all one.

7 billion people
sharing the Earth's land and resources.
A small number
get what they want
while many don't even
get what they need.
O God of Many Names,
help us to serve the poor because
we are all one.

7 billion people
needing a place
they can call home.
So many individuals on the
road looking for a refuge
and finding only hatred and abuse.
O God of Many Names,
open our hearts
to the world's homeless because
we are all one.

7 billion people
and almost one-third of
them have no access
to affordable clean water.
May we join the fight
against the privatization
of this precious resource
O God of Many Names,
support us as we work for
a world economy that acknowledges
we are all one.

7 billion people
and in so many countries
female fetuses are aborted,
girls are denied education and
traded as sex slaves,
and women are not given their
rightful due in the workplace.
O God of Many Names,
support us as we work for
women's empowerment because
we are all one.

7 billion people
and too many living
in teeming urban slums
where they are imprisoned
by illness and unemployment.
May we do what we can
so that all those seeking it
may find meaningful work.
O God of Many Names,
remind us continually that
we are all one.

7 billion people
and millions are starving as food
is wasted and squandered.
May we give what we have
to enable hungry people
to take their place at the table
and rejoice in the feast.
O God of Many Names,
teach us to conserve and
share so that we demonstrate
our awareness that
we are all one.

We are 7 billion people.
O God of Many Names,
gift us with your grace and
the energy and patience and love
to be your hands
in these challenging times.
Bless our words and deeds
that they may testify
to our firm dedication
to the truth that
we are all one.
Amen.


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