A Litany for Human Relations Day

Tomorrow in many United Methodist congregations Human Relations Sunday is celebrated- the Sunday before MLK day. As we pray for a peaceful resolution for the situation at Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, I offer this prayer

Litany for Human Relations Day

The weeping in Ramah (Matthew 2:18) has been loud, and nothing will comfort the cries of mothers whose children will never come home. 

Oh God, hear our cries and send healing, change and unity to your land. 

Innocent blood cries out from the soil for lives taken because of the color of their skin, their gender, and cultural differences. 

Oh God, hear our cries and send healing, change and unity to our land. 

We have marched, sung, and run, 

We have prayed, watched, and waited for a change to come. 

We have buried loved ones, leaders slain in their prime; and our families have suffered for the hatred that has plagued our land.

We've seen our dreams delayed and fade with the passing of time, hoping, praying that a brighter future would come for our children and grandchildren. 

We listened to "I have a dream" speeches; we chanted with the crowd "Yes, we can!" We believed in a new day when we too would be seen, treated as accepted, protected as American. 

AND, God has heard our cries and is sending healing, change and unity to our land. 

We stand together, Black, White, Jews, Gentiles, Muslims, churched and unchurched. 

Together we watch the dream become a reality as we put aside our differences and hold hands. 

God has heard our cries and is sending healing, change, and unity to our land. 

Yes, we celebrate this day our unity in God. Our differences serve as a reminder of how precious each of us is in the human tapestry of life and that the future holds great things for the next generation. 

Yes, God has heard our cries. Yes, healing, change, and unity are sweeping the land!

---

About the Author: Sharletta M. Green serves as the Director of the Wesley Foundation at Tennessee State University. She is a recent graduate of Candler School of Theology, Emory University. 

A Litany for Human Relations Day, 2009 © 2009 Sharletta M. Green. All Rights Reserved. Posted with Permission on the Discipleship Ministries Worship website.