A Prayer after Freddie Carlos Gray Junior's Funeral

After attending the funeral of Freddie Gray, I shared this prayer with our Unitarian Universalist Association.

O Thou whom no person at any time hath seen,
and yet who hath been revealed in all cultures of the human family 
in the simple love of parents for their children as they grow,
in the creativity and imagination, the energy and yearning of youngsters
whose lives reflect the vibrancy of stars,
we grieve at the loss of all human life,
but especially the death of the young.

Make real in our hearts the possibility
that our grief may be transformed in the promise
that our weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning. 

O Mystery, make of us a people
willing to be held accountable for our actions,
and help us hold each other accountable, too,
a community of resistance and hope,
that the justice proclaimed by prophets of many ages
may be real among us now,
that peace may fill our people,
and Universal Love overwhelm our estrangement and fear.

This we pray by every sacred name,
in every sacred tongue,
for every sacred moment. Amen.