Spirit of Life and Love, Justice and Peace,
The spectacle of foolish pride is ever before us in these times.
Indeed, pride has seldom looked so foolish in our lifetimes.
So many people in positions of public trust and responsibility
have lost their authority and our confidence spectacularly.
And still they persist in their pride.
They lie. They brag. They evade. They lecture.
And they seem not to know that this makes matters worse.

The example of the humble is also before us.
Indeed, humility has seldom looked so wise.
So many people in positions of public trust and responsibility,
who otherwise would not attract our notice,
have gained authority and our confidence by unspectacularly acting with honor.
They persist in seeking truth, being accountable, 
stepping up to their duties with courage, asking the right questions.
And without centering themselves, they seem to know that this matters.
Seldom has the contrast between foolish pride and honest humility been set so clearly before us.

Come what may, O Spirit of Life,
May we own enough humility that we never need be humbled.
May we own enough compassion that we are never tempted to humiliate.
May we own enough forgiveness that neither the humbled nor the humiliators –
who are all so much more – are ever outside the circle of our love.
In the Spirit, by the Spirit, with the Spirit giving power, so may it be. 
Amen.