Prayer for October 21, 2021

Prayer for October 21, 2021: Please pray with me. God of history, we think that we control history. How ridiculous. We think we can shape history any way we want. We think we can twist history for our own benefit. We think we can look at history through rose-colored glasses. We think we can practice selective memory. Sure, we can try. But what we say about history doesn’t make it so. It’s just a lie. Our preferences do not change reality and what happened. Humanity can’t escape the past, only pretend to twist it. But we have to live with the consequences. And until we deal with actual history, we’ll never heal or learn from history. Radically reorient us Lord. Soften our hearts so that we can look at real history and deal with it — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let us learn from history so that we can be transformed and changed. Let history teach us so that future generations can be better than the past and better than us. Amen.

Call to Action: instead of fighting about history, let us look at history for what it is. Let us not hide from the ugly parts like racism, sexism, misogyny, violence, white supremacy, Christian nationalism, fascism, communism, consumerism, and more. When you are presented with something uncomfortable from history, don’t try to dismiss it, ignore it, twist it, spin it, or anything else. Consider it. Learn about it. And decide how you will go forward changed.

Originally published at https://pastormatthewbest.com on October 21, 2021.