prayer of confession

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone...  

We have been blinded by the sin of racism.  We have let fear harden our hearts and, in doing so, we have killed a teenage boy armed with Skittles and iced tea.  Forgive us, God; melt our hard, hard hearts and fill us with repentance, tenderness, compassion, and mercy...  

Loving God, forgive us for we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  We have been so hardened by war and by violence that we have killed innocent people; men, women, and children.  We have taken away life and we have hurt not only our fellow brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, but we have also hurt You...

Sweet smelling God who promises to pull new life out of the valley of the shadow of hate and death, we are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your son who proudly wore both hoodies and turbans, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name today and for all our tomorrows...  

Amen and amen.

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Thanks to The Nation for capturing this poster calling for protest, peace, and justice.