Prayer for a Dark Morning

Turning to God

I give thanks for this temporary body.

I give thanks for all the love that has come to me.

I give thanks for the awareness that lifts me to joy.

I bless every person who is alive,

I bless both the gentle and the vicious—

Each one holds a spark of God.

I bless both the babies and the murderers.

I don’t know why anything happens.

Beyond all hate is love calling out for love.

Beyond all death is joy too big to name.

I leave my terror behind.

I accept God’s gift of utter kindness.

May this temporary body radiate light into dark corners.

May this light lift the sad one and the hater.

May we empty ourselves of everything

So that Grace can pour us out

Until our laughter spills over into heaven.

–-by Jean Gendreau: I wrote this early one morning after hearing about another of the horrific executions in Syria. I believe that somehow, with divine help, we must come to the point where we love the executioner as much as the victim.

Reprinted from and with the permission of Elephant Journal, http://www.elephantjournal.com