I pray for all the families; for all the men, women, and children all over the world that are or will find themselves struggling to cope with the loss of loved ones.

I pray for the well being of all the people who find themselves barely hanging on and lost in our complex world of contradictions.

I pray that all of the children being taught violence as a solution to problems will someday find love and prove to be better than us, their teachers.

I pray that someday the American passion for life that gets displayed every time a tragedy strikes one of our communities becomes a permanent fixture in our hearts, and that this American humanity expands to include compassion for non-Christians and non-Americans all over the world.

I pray that one day, my Christian brothers and sisters will quit murdering in the name of Allah, my Muslim brothers and sisters will quit murdering in the name of God, and our American politicians will quit sending our American kids to war under the false pretense of democracy and justice.

I pray for you, in hopes that you when hit that wall and begin to believe you can’t go any further, that when you reach that point where you can’t see any hope, that when you find yourself in that space where darkness is the only thing that surrounds you, I pray that you will find the courage and perseverance to take one more step forward.

I pray for us, in hopes that someday we will truly treat one another as our brothers and sisters the way El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) did when he returned from his Hajj, the way Martin Luther King, Jr. did when he embraced humanity, the way Mother Theresa did as she worked tirelessly to make the world better, and the way so many do as they heroically go on with the business of doing for others without any fanfare.

I pray…