To all higher powers, be they divine beings, manifestations of a Goddess, G-d, Allah, Supreme beings, Spirit, Jah, Lord, Creator and/or Savior.
To all divinities, real, imagined, dreamt, worshipped, forgotten or even existing solely within ourselves, we beg of you to help us to find our way back to our shared humanity.
We are collectively standing on the brink of so many potential changes on our planet, in our health, cultures and our American political system, which will all have far-reaching and possibly disastrous ramifications.
This is a moment to gather our strength, both individual and shared.
This is a moment to care for one another with greater depth, tenacity and sincerity than ever before.
This is a moment for unfettered creativity, expansive dreams, unbridled visions of a more inclusive, gentle and compassionate world. May each of us have the time and capacity for some form of creative expression and the joy, calm and the accompanying satisfaction and pleasure.
We desperately need our artists, poets, musicians and dreamers now more than ever, so for those of us with means, please extend monetary support.
Dear Almighty, let us be humble and mindful of the magnitude of our exquisite earth, glorious universe and the multiverses beyond. We are tiny, fleeting and ultimately inconsequential, yet our daily choices and habits can have far-reaching impacts on others. Let us be ever aware of our potential to unwittingly harm, and let us seek to limit or eliminate our negative forces on animals, plants and other humans.
Allow us to accept our mortal frailty with open eyes, reminding us to protect those who are delicate, aging or ill. Let our compassion and decency guide our actions and keep our ailing neighbors in mind to ensure mask wearing, hand washing and keeping distanced. Let us remember that staying distant is an act of love, that wearing a mask is how we can participate in this pivotal moment of global solidarity. Allow us to be cognizant of our roles during the greatest examples of human interconnection in the past 100 years. We are truly one — we may be keeping separate, and yet we are more entwined than ever. Let our actions reflect an awareness of our connectedness, and let us be guided by gentle consideration of others.
Dear Divine Teacher, let us be grateful for our material and non-material wealth. We can choose to see abundance when we take stock of our health, friends, safety. We can choose to share and spread abundance by reaching out to those who lack those things by supporting selflessly, giving generously and spreading goodness.
May we be gentle yet firm with ourselves as we learn, make mistakes and ask the hard questions. For those of us who are white, that means holding ourselves and other white people accountable for doing better, learning more and taking up the mantle of working for an actively anti-racist future. For those of us who are Black, brown and indigenous, may the pressure to teach and guide white people be lifted away and taken up by knowledgeable and articulate allies.
Let us be compassionate and find the internal amplitude to think calmly before jumping to conclusions, making assumptions or allowing our own biases to fester unchecked or unquestioned. May our compassion be refilled and multiplied each day to allow us to be good caregivers to ourselves and others. May our patience and gentleness extend beyond our friends and neighbors, to strangers and others, both near and far.
Dear Infinite Spirit, let us be active and work diligently for a peaceful world. May we have the fortitude to lend our voices and energy to work to reimagine and restructure our precious democracy for now and for future generations. We will flood the streets in honor of justice and equality, we will never cease fighting for civil liberties. Let us never abandon hope for a functional, rational, inclusive, healthy and vibrant society and democracy.
May we utilize any opportunity to pay tribute and spread awareness of the indigenous peoples whose lands were stolen, the very lands on which we all now live, work and play. May we have the clarity to acknowledge the privileges that many of us possess and recognize that those very advantages may be a direct result of the suffering, pain, enslavement or murder of people of color. May we each find our role in working to soothe those wounds and find our way as individuals and collectively to facilitate healing.
Dearest Creator of all and everything, please heed our prayers, and let us be aware of how we are finite, mortal and fleeting, and use our precious time to lift one another up and lead with gentle hearts. Give us the strength to face the suffering that is happening all around us, to witness and sit with the reality of despair and still chose to lean in with love and empathy. Allow our perspective to occasionally float up among the stars every now and again, to periodically view the human race from the heavens and remember how fragile and ultimately ephemeral we truly are. Taking the perspective of the stars may allow us to drop our shoulders, relax into the mystery of uncertainty, take a few long, slow, deep breaths and remember that tenderness, compassion and decency are the keys to living in harmony with ourselves, each other and the planet.
With special thanks to Jose Adastra.
Chelsea Kline is a social justice advocate in western Massachusetts and a mother of three. She writes a monthly column for the Gazette.