Eternal Spirit
From whom all things come
and to whom all things return
We gather today as religious people from various traditions;
We gather as people reaching across our difference
Sharing our commitment to compassion and truth
Together despite the record of violence and distrust in society around us
In this silent moment let us give thanks for the blessings in our lives.
For home and family, for faith and meaningful work, we give thanks.
For our ability to gather in this way as people of peace, we give thanks.
In this silent moment we lift up those places in our own lives
and in our own hearts where burdens reside.
May there be peace, may there be grace, may there be support
In this silent moment let us cry out for the suffering of our world.
For refugees fleeing oppression and children haunted by cruelty.
For the wars across the waters far away from us,
and for battlegrounds created in nearby cities
For brutality and corruption, violence and distrust
Oh, Spirit of life and of love, receive our cry.
Hear our cry, of spirit, and help us to become instruments of thy love.
Let us speak in solidarity with the disempowered,
and join the voices of compassion and reason
or a world filled with cruelty and greed.
Let us set aside hate, and devote our lives to the ways of peace and justice. 
Let us, O Spirit, encourage peace to grow in any garden it can find.
Let us remember the tragedies of our days
and commit to building a better world.
Let us be emissaries of justice
ambassadors of compassion
agents of thee, O Spirit
In the name of all that is holy
may it be so