A Prayer as We Prepare to Vote

Thank You, the Power of Healing and Transformation in the Universe, that Your energy has moved through human beings in the past and inspired them to create democratic institutions that would give me and others this wonderful opportunity to participate in shaping our world. I know that the outcome of this election will have consequences for all six billion people on the planet, so I take it upon myself to vote in a way that is sensitive to the needs of the all the people of the planet, not just to those who are blessed to live in the richest and most powerful society.

As I approach this holy act, I recommit myself to the message revealed to the prophets and sages of old: that our highest task on earth is to bring more love and kindness, generosity and sanctity into the world, and that to do so we must vigorously pursue a world of justice and peace, avoiding violence and hurting others directly or indirectly. May my vote contribute to these results. Please give strength to those for whom I vote. If they are elected, let them contribute to achieving a world of greater peace, justice and love. If they are not elected, let my vote be one of the factors that contributes to empowering them to play a positive role in continuing the struggle for peace, justice and love.

Give me the sensitivity to understand those who do not vote in the way that I do. We all desire for a world of peace, justice, loving-kindness and caring, and let that understanding empower me to be more compassionate in the way that I think and talk about those with whom I disagree, and more intelligent in finding ways to reach them, speak to their goodness, and bring them through my love and compassion for them to be able to see a better path to achieve the goals that they share with me.

Let me also have compassion for the candidates for office whom I do support--let me not judge them for their personal failings. Yet let me simultaneously hold them accountable in their public acts to struggle even more for social justice and peace.

I know that my vote is only one little part of the whole, and nevertheless I will not belittle what I am doing today in going to vote. But neither will I use this vote as a way of excusing myself from having to do more. I commit myself to putting more of my time and more of my energy and resources into activities explicitly aimed at the healing and transformation of our planet.

Peace. Shalom. Salaam.