Litany for Charlottesville

God, we are sad to see the stark truth of demons that remain among us:
Hatred, bigotry, racism, and white supremacy.
We are sad to see flagrant parades of violence in our streets,
Flaunting prejudice and intolerance.
We mourn with our sisters and brothers who are harmed in body and soul
By these exhibitions.
Indeed, we are all harmed:
They are us and we are them.

We say No:
This can go no further.
We reproach these misguided souls
Resolutely and lovingly.

Help us not to bury our heads
Or resist the lesson before us:
Of the truth of the darkness that exists in our midst
Growing like weeds among wheat.

Help us to stamp out hate
By love and love alone.
Help us to preach peace on loudspeakers and pedestals,
But also in quiet relationships;
In art and poetry,
In song and dance,
In bread and wine,
In words written and spoken,
In pulpits and in alleys,
In boardrooms and porches.

Sneaky peace.
Overt peace.
Backroads peace.
Front door peace.

The way of Christ is peace.
The method of Christ is love.
The means of Christ is invitation.
The ends of Christ are unity.
The way of Christ
Is the way we follow.

Amen

-Rev. Fran Pratt is worship pastor at Peace of Christ Church: A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Round Rock, Texas. This litany was first published here.

O God of light-
We have seen a great darkness
Filled with hatred, words of malice and acts of horror.

And we are speechless –
shaken but grateful for a Spirit that intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
And we are speech-filled –
courageously naming for all to hear the love you have taught us.

As people walking in great darkness, we need Your great light.
We need Your great love.
We need Your great power.
We need You.

Amen.

–Rev. Ruth Perkins Lee, Director of Ministries, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship