Loving God, you made each of us who we are.
We are wonderfully made,
in your own image.
And yet, people forget this.
They ignore this fundamental truth when they treat their fellow human beings with cruelty. I say “they” do this, but I know the truth is that we all make this mistake, if not through open cruelty then through indifference, or maybe through the failure of collective moral courage.
So I pray, and I say “help us remember who we are, made in Your image.” Those who are deprived of their dignity, of their connections to family, of their chance to plead their case before a fair arbiter of the law — those who experience these injustices sometimes forget who they are. Forget that they have been made, wonderfully, in God’s image by the very Source of Life, the Holy One of Blessing, the Spark that animates Hope, Love and our very Breath. They forget because being treated with active hatred can make people forget who they are.
So please God, help them remember their own deep goodness — those who have been unjustly deprived of liberty and fair treatment, as well as those who have done the depriving.
Help them, prisoner and captor, remember their dignity, remember the living Life Force that is your imprint within each and every one of us.
Help them remember who they really are.
Help us.
Because you created these fragile hearts that beat within us, Sacred One.
You understand each and every one of us.
No mask can hide who we are and what we do from You.
No mask can make us hide from ourselves.
You are the one of Many Names and of No Name, who welcomes the stranger, and hears the cries of those who have been abandoned by decency and reason, those who have been cast in the dust, disoriented and stripped of nearly all hope.
Cosmic Companion and Champion of the Stranger, remind those who await redemption of their infinite worth. Remind them that their dignity cannot be taken from them even if it has been disregarded, denied and disrespected. And remind all of us — all of us who are responsible for allowing this web of cruelty masquerading as patriotism to stain our nation — remind us to remember who we truly are, and what our calling is towards one another.
Help us remember all these things in the hearts you planted within us.
Keyn yehi ratzon — may it be your will — bim’heirah bim’heirah — speedily and urgently. Amen.
