A prayer inspired by Psalm 51:1-12 in response to the Atlanta shootings on March 16, 2021.
Have mercy on us, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
for the weight of escalating anti-Asian racism,
revealed in hateful and misogynistic violence,
is too much to bear alone.
We call to you for help,
recognizing that many of us are at fault.
As a society, we have failed to value and cherish all your peoples.
We have wrongly “othered” and rejected your glorious design in Asian people.
We have enabled domestic terrorism, and White supremacy to fester and flourish.
We have hidden violence against women by ignoring, dismissing, and normalizing complex interconnected systems that work to oppress.
Have mercy on us, O God,
and in your abundant compassion,
receive our broken hearts—
as we cry with all who grieve lives devastated by the misogynistic violence of anti-Asian racism;
we mourn the recent deaths of:
Dauyou Feng
Hyun Jung Grant
Suncha Kim
Paul Andre Michels
Soon C. Park
Xiaojie Tan
Delania Ashley Yaun
Yung A. Yue
in the March 16, Atlanta shooting;
and we lament our failure to protect the rights of sex and migrant workers.
Reveal to us the often-hidden violence experienced by Asian peoples,
make us attentive to those among us who feel that they are struggling alone,
so that we can begin to heal together.
Have mercy on us, O God,
according to your steadfast love,
and in your abundant compassion
put a reconciling spirit within us;
teach us deep in our hearts that we are one in you,
and help us to find ways to live out this wisdom in our words and our actions,
naming and calling out anti-Asian racism and sexism,
until we are able to celebrate with gladness our future reconciliation
where all people are protected and beloved.
Amen.