A Prayer for Compassion

by Rabbi Debra Smith

Compassionate One in the Heavens Above:

We pray for victims of cruelty, and violence, of all forms of hatred.
We pray for those who have witnessed acts of violence.
We pray for those who have succumbed to acts of violence.
We pray for those who have perpetrated acts of violence upon others.
We pray for those who have been ignored or marginalized, just because they speak with an accent, look different from us,
or wear a head covering.
We pray for  those whose rage runs rampant, whose thoughts are only focused on harming the other, of wiping out anyone who is not like them.
We pray for those who cannot see themselves in the eyes of the other, who have no softness for
those whose lullabies to their babies are sung in a foreign tongue.
We pay for the courage to speak out against hateful, vicious words outrageous actions.
We pray for the strength to be an upstander and not a bystander.
We pray for the conscience to open our homes and hearts to the immigrant, the refugee.
Source of All Life, Compassionate One in the Heavens  above:
May You guide our steps on the road to righteousness.
May You guide our lips  to speak words of justice, mercy, and kindness to all humanity.
We place our faith and trust in You.

AMEN.