May we learn, O Spirit, to be tender and gentle with the broken places in our lives and in the lives of our neighbors near and far.”

“We pray in solidarity with all those who have been touched by violence while seeking a community of support. In my black suit coat pocket, I found the prayer I had written and delivered a year before the Pulse shooting a prayer for the June 2015 shooting at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, SC. “Shall we talk about homophobia and finding safe spaces? Do we bring up the need for better gun control laws? Can we talk about Islamophobia and about vulnerable communities being pitted against each other? O Spirit of Life and Love, can we simply talk about how much this hurts? Again?” I must have tucked it into my jacket after speaking and forgotten it was there for half a year. It was a prayer I had written and delivered for the vigil held last June for the shooting that had happened at The Pulse in Orlando FL. Over the years, however, I had not imagined it to be literally true until recently.Ī few months ago, I put on my brown sports jacket and noticed a paper folded up in the breast pocket.

He was asked to lead prayer at an interfaith gathering and responded saying he was not good at extemporaneous prayer but that “Douglas always has a prayer in his back pocket.” I always felt this was more than my colleague ‘passing the buck.’ It was a sincere compliment. When I was serving as an Associate Minister, the Senior Minister at that church once put me on the spot.

Prayer in my pocket