by 
Father of us all, we ask forgiveness for the sins that we and our brothers and sisters commit in your name. We pray for those among us who presume to interpret your will, and pass judgment without compassion. We ask that you imbue each of us with the humility and wonder that opens us to seek to know you, all the while accepting the ultimate impossibility of knowing you completely. May we never be so arrogant as to believe that in our journey of faith we have finally arrived at the ultimate truth or discovered the absolute unerring interpretation of you.
Give us grace, in our human frailty, to avoid self-righteous certainty. Let us not think that acts of violence and hate are committed with your blessing or justified in your eyes. They are, at best, a manifestation of our mortal imperfection; surely they are not your will. Help us to humbly discern the actions that will preserve and strengthen us in service to you. When threatened, let us be compassionate and forbearing. When we act to defend ourselves, let not narrow self-interest, nor political ambition, nor rage, nor vengeance blind us to you. Let us seek strength only so that we may be gentle and kind while preserving liberty and justice. Make us, as a nation, exemplary – the hope of the peoples of the world.
Let us open ourselves and respect the many and varied traditions in which you have manifested yourself to our brothers and sisters. Bless each and every one, regardless of belief, to know your love and be uplifted to a more perfect life of faith and wonder.
Richmond Shreve
This was originally written and published August 30, 2005. My wife Marguerite remembered it and suggested republishing it as appropriate for the troubled days that lie ahead of us.