Although there are always exceptions, human beings have the need for belonging, for mutual support, for group security as well as individual safety, and for collective celebration. Shared value systems, shared place, make these needs easier to fulfill. Yet, the larger the group, the more room there can be for diversity, including values and personal choice, as long as members of the community retain the understanding that individual well-being depends on the basic agreement of protection and stability of the group.
Human history, though, is replete with the story of division. Spiritual faith and religious beliefs and practices can be the glue of community, but they are frequently the source of division. Even within shared basic beliefs, religious and spiritual groups split and fragment into opposing factions. Human beings unite and divide. The sobering reality is that our individual well-being does indeed depend on a diverse and often conflicting world. It is in recognition of that, that I approach prayer today as prayer for our community.
Prayer on a community level is not as personal as for ourselves and our family and friends, but realistically, by definition, our community includes us as well as those closest to us. So in prayer we recognize the community, our community, as an aggregate of individuals, of friendships, of families, of those we know and don't know, of those who are like-minded and those that do not see things as we see. Yet we are all participants at the level that we define as our community. We admit that we do not know and cannot know what is best for each. We may have our stories, but we let them go right now, in an acceptance of a unity that transcends our separation. We ask and we accept that which is highest and best for our community as we move through the Pandemic. We accept Divine Intelligence, Truth, Wisdom and Healing as the movement of Life at work throughout, within and without, this community. We ask and we accept harmonious interactions and exchanges that bring health and well -being to all. In the spirit of forgiveness, of mutual dependency, a new kind of vibrancy and friendliness now eases the wounds of the past and the stresses of the present. And in a communal spirit, we are open to and abundantly receive creative possibilities of renewed life. And so it is, Amen. (Susan Nettleton)