Many of us, O God, don't believe in prayer. We're more comfortable with meditation, particularly the silent part. And some of us aren't sure we believe in God, or we scarcely know what the word means. But we do know that we care, that we care about one another and the kind of world we live in.

We care, dear God, we care, and sometimes the care we feel scares us, because we're afraid to care too much... too much for those we love... too much for friends and companions along the way... too much for all the poverty, pain and injustice in the world... too much for those who suffer needlessly and without cause... too much for the waving grain and falling leaves, the passing of transient beauty before our eyes... too much for the depth of anguish and grief we might feel if we allowed ourselves to care too much for what can so easily be lost.

If we could pray out of the deep well of our capacity to care we might say, O God, let this care we feel become the bond of love that unites and heals us within and without, that joins us in body and spirit with the hopes and aspirations of people everywhere. Let our loving concern for those in our midst be the spark that enflames our loving concern for universal humanity. If we can't pray for lack of words, or for too little belief in the power of prayer, then, dear God, let our care be our prayer, and may we find the answer to all our prayers, spoken and unspoken, in the daily human expression of our loving concern.

Hear our prayer, O God, as we dare to care, now and here, and everywhere. Amen.