Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 4:31-5:2

Dear God, yesterday at Rotary one of our members gave a great invocation. He talked about civility and disagreeing with respect. He talked about our current national discourse on politics. He prayed that you would teach us to love each other.

I’m having to go to some meetings of different political parties during this 10-day stretch, and I’ve decided what I dread most about it isn’t what they say about their own beliefs, but how they insult people from the other side. And it goes beyond them thinking that they other person is wrong or even stupid. They start to claim that they aren’t patriotic and don’t love our country. They claim that the other side wants us to become fascists or socialists (depending on which group I’m visiting). The hate is real, and I don’t like being around it.

Father, I’ve been thinking about writing an editorial or letter to the editor about how we need each other. It starts with us needing you, moves to us needing our spouses, and then beyond that into our friends and community. As far as Republicans and Democrats go, the need each other too. They need each other for balance. If either one were in control, not balanced by the other, our country would either run into a ditch on the left of a ditch on the right. But with both sides holding onto the wheel, the car stays down the road. The same is true in my marriage, at work, in the boardroom where I work, and in our community. You made us all part of one body. Help me to me part of uniting it.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen