Prayer at Muslim Rally

 

Prayer at Muslim “Not in My Name” Rally, July 10, 2016, Orlando

JimCoffinBy James Coffin

God of all creation, we’ve gathered here today as a highly diverse community. Those assembled represent nearly every region of the globe, every race, a multitude of ethnicities, an array of faith traditions as well as those without religious affiliation. But we’ve come together because we want to be united.

Unity in diversity is not easily achieved, but it is achievable.

One of our nation’s founding fathers, Thomas Paine, described such challenges this way: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” He went on to say concerning things that are not easily achieved: “We have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

It is to achieve such a glorious triumph that we’ve come together. We seek peace over conflict, justice over injustice, tolerance over alienation, equality over discrimination, love over hate, harmony over strife, and community over chaos.

We’ve captured a collective vision. We now pray that the vision will not only become a reality, but that the vision will grow with each passing day, and that our community will become more and more an example of what can be achieved even in an imperfect world.

This is our great hope and heartfelt prayer.

Amen.

James Coffin is executive director of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida.