Spirituality & Practice

Inspiring Spirit, guide, direct, and sustain members of all the world's religions that we may find as many ways as possible to open our hearts to those walking different paths from our own.

POLL: Given the wide variety of faith groups in the United States, we would think that most Americans know someone of a religion other than their own. A Pew Research Center poll found that a majority of Americans (87%) knew a Catholic, 70% an evangelical Christian, 61% a Jew, 59% an atheist, 44% a Mormon, 38% a Muslim, 23% a Buddhist, and 22% a Hindu. All together, the average American personally knows members of at least four of the eight groups included in the survey. Those who know a member of a group tend to rate that group more positively. Overall, Americans express the warmest feelings toward Jews, Catholics, and evangelical Christians. They are coolest toward atheists and Muslims. Buddhists, Hindus, and Mormons are in the middle. (Pew Research Center)

Unifier, bring us closer to those of other traditions so that we can all contribute to the healing of the world.

God Who Breaks Chains, guide, direct, and sustain the poor, frightened, and desperate children of Central America who have seen their peers murdered in their communities because they have not wanted to join gangs, because of vendettas against their parents, and even from police brutality. Thousands of them have fled their homes and, unaccompanied by adults, are crossing the border into the United States seeking asylum.

Fact: A political row over child migrants into the U.S. caught fire in early June 2014 when leaked photographs showed children crushed together in a Texas holding facility while they awaited processing. Soon after, the government released figures showing that more than 52,000 unaccompanied children had reached the U.S. southern border between October 2013 and mid-June – more than double the number for the entire previous fiscal year. Four countries – El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico – account for almost all of the unaccompanied minor cases. (Reuters) She Who Hears the Cries of the World, inspire state and federal agencies to do the right thing to help the children seeking refuge. Give patience, courage, and hope to their parents and relatives. Give strength and perseverance to local American volunteers who are doing what they can to provide assistance and compassion to these children. Show us all how we can best be advocates for these innocents.

O God of Peace and Diversity, the American political system is rife with incivility. We know similar situations exist in other political systems around the world. Today, we pray specifically that you will guide American Republicans and Democrats into the kind of mutual respect that is necessary to move the government out of gridlock so it can deal with the major issues of the day. We pray for political leaders and also for those rank-and-file party members who give them their marching orders.

Poll: Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines, and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive than at any point in the last two decades. This manifests itself in the contempt expressed when the other party as a threat to the nation's well-being; in each party, the share of people with a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994. The differences between the right and the left include disagreements over politics, friends, and desired communities. The most politically active are the least willing to see the parties meet each other halfway. (People-Press.org)

Opener of Doors, we respect the commitment and the passion of politicians and their constituents. But we are concerned that this passion is shutting doors rather than opening them. Give us the insights and the attitudes we need to change this pattern wherever we find it.

O Lover of Diversity, we give thanks for the variety of religious choices and the freedom to pursue the ones that have the most meaning for us.

Fact: According to a new Pew Research Center study, the United States is not really that religiously diverse. In fact, 95 % of the population is either Christian or religiously unaffiliated, while all the other religions combined account for just 5% of the population. As a result, the U.S. ranks 68th out of 232 countries and territories on Pew's Religious Diversity Index.

O Wisdom from the Most High, may our faith be broadened and deepened by encounters and collaborations with people of different religious traditions. May the spiritual practice of hospitality thrive in the future. So be it.

Creator of Meaning, many people do not seem to have the time, the energy, or the focus to develop a life enhancing purpose.

Study: In an article in The New York Times, Patrick Hill, a psychologist in Ottawa, observed: "Purpose reflects a commitment to broader life goals that helps organize your day to day activities." Following over 1,000 people (average age 80) for up to seven years, scientists in Chicago learned that having a purpose in life is associated with higher satisfaction, better health, better physical functioning, and less chance of cognitive impairment.

Artist of the Universe, help all us to see that our lives are works of art in progress and that having a rich sense of purpose brings us bounties that benefit us in any ways.

An explosion and fire at a coal mine in Soma, in western Turkey, on May 13, 2014, has become the country's worst industrial disaster. The death toll now stands at 301 after the last two bodies of miners were found. Police put the town of Soma on virtual lockdown after protesters claimed that mine owners ignored safety for profit and that the government had not done its job of enforcing worker safety standards.

And so we pray this news . . .

God Who Breaks Chains, 32 American states have the death penalty for certain crimes. Public opinion remains divided on this practice, even after something went wrong during the lethal injection execution of Clayton Lockett, an Oklahoma inmate, resulting in his writhing in pain for nearly 40 minutes before dying of a heart attack.

Poll: 65% of Americans support the death penalty for convicted murderers, including 82% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats. Of those who support capital punishment, 74% say they want executions to continue even if the condemned suffer extreme pain and struggle for breath for more than 20 minutes before dying. (HuffingtonPost.com/YouGov.com)

God of Love, free us from being imprisoned in hatred and feelings of revenge for convicted murderers who are facing the death penalty. May we never want to see others suffer a painful death. Inspire us to reflect upon spiritual responses with the death penalty. And may your mercy prevail.

The evening of April 15, 2014, armed men stormed into a boarding school in northern Nigeria and herded hundreds of girls into their vehicles; 50 girls escaped but 276 are still missing. They were taken by Boko Haram, an extremist Muslim group whose name in the Hausa language means "Western education is sin." (New York Times) Most of the girls are between 15 and 18 years of age, and there are reports that they are being sold off to become "wives" of militants or sex slaves. It is believed that the girls have been divided into smaller groups and have been transported into neighboring Cameroon or Chad. Other countries have sent law enforcement experts to the area to try to rescue the girls, and an international protest (#BringBackOurGirls) has drawn attention to their plight.

Speaking as a member of the Elders.org . . .

Hope Through the Ages, we have become aware of some dismaying global trends. As we lament these developments, help us to respond with love, compassion, peace, and kindness.

Report: A report from the World Economic Forum ranks the 10 most important global trends:

1. Rising societal tensions in the Middle East and North Africa
2. Widening income disparities
3. Persistent structural unemployment
4. Intensifying cyber threats
5. Inaction on climate change
6. Diminishing confidence in economic policies
7. A lack of values in leadership
8. The expanding middle class in Asia
9 The growing importance of megacities
10. The rapid spread of misinformation online. (World Economic Forum)

Liberator God, free us from our avoidance of these depressing and seemingly unsolvable global problems. Give us the courage, the patience, and the creativity to do what we can to help alleviate all the pain and suffering resulting from them.

Hope Through the Ages, we are so grateful for the good news that many of the old walls and prejudices which have kept lovers apart have fallen by the wayside.

Fact: Some 15.5 % of all new marriages in 2011 were either interracial or interethnic, a sixfold increase over the share in 1960. Looking at all current marriages in 2011, irrespective of the year they began, 8.6 were interracial or interethnic, an all-time high. (The Next America by Paul Taylor and the Pew Research Center)

Lover of Life, give these couples the courage and the creativity to model for others like them the benefits of diversity and difference in building an enduring marriage.