Prayer for America 12/05/05

God, as we leave our homes this morning and head to the workplace, give us your spirit of kindness, love, humility, and concern. As we come in contact with others, help us express these things in a genuine way. Help us smile when it would be easier to scowl. Help us encourage when it would be easier to criticize. Help us sympathize when it would be easier to condemn. Help us display an attitude of love that is impossible to feel on our own. We want to be people who stand out from the crowd--not because of power or superiority--but because of our interactions with others. We want to change the world--not through control or dominance--but through kindness, love, and gentleness. Help us, God, for these things we cannot do on our own. Amen.