I’m sure that you, like me, have watched in horror and disbelief footage of the appalling death of George Floyd this week – yet another casualty at the hands of the police. The wave of protests this sparked is entirely understandable, and though it’s harder to condone violence and rioting, we can appreciate the reasons for that too given the long and disgraceful history of discrimination against people of colour in American society, going right back to the days of slavery, on which so much of that country’s wealth was founded. Racism remains an ugly reality not just in US society, but in many places across the world, often thinly cloaked under what masquerades as Christianity. There is no place for it; it is a hideous scar that denies and denigrates our common humanity. The following prayer of intercession, adapted from my book Collected Intercessions, asks for God’s help in combating it, whether in ourselves or in others.
Loving God,
forgive the racism that has scarred our world across the centuries –
the hatred it has engendered,
persecution it has led to,
injustices and misery it has caused,
violence, murder and genocide it has been used to justify.
Break down the barriers, Lord,
and make us one.
Forgive the racism that has scarred the Church over the years:
persecution of Jews and Muslims,
the iniquity of apartheid,
innate white elitism,
rank prejudice and discrimination.
Break down the barriers, Lord,
and make us one.
Reach out to those who continue to be victims of racism today,
being intimidated,
discriminated against,
victimised,
abused,
suffering on account of the colour of their skin or place of origin.
Break down the barriers, Lord,
and make us one.
Reach out to the family of George Floyd,
to the people of Minnesota,
to people of colour throughout America and across the world,
wherever they continue to encounter persecution and discrimination.
Help them to express their anger clearly and powerfully,
peacefully but effectively,
so that their voices will be heard
and real change be effected.
Break down the barriers, Lord,
and make us one.
Prosper, we pray, the work of all those who work to combat racism,
and break down the barriers of prejudice that keep people apart,
so that everyone,
everywhere,
may learn to recognise, respect and value the common humanity we share.
Break down the barriers, Lord,
and make us one.
Amen.