Prayer Concerning Respect for Self and Others

 

               Read Genesis 1:26-31.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,^[and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humankind in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

 

                There are days, Lord, when I have trouble keeping straight the ways in which I am special and the ways in which I am not special at all.  I know that when I do not keep them straight, I am apt to twist my respect for myself and my respect for others out of shape.

                Help me today to remember: 

¨   That there never has been and never will be another person exactly like me; there is no one else in whom the same genes and experiences have combined;

¨   That I, therefore, am an unduplicated part of your creative process;

¨   That the Genesis benediction on creation applies to me: "and God saw that it was good;" (GN 1:12)

¨   That what you see as worthy I must not see as unworthy; I may sometimes despise what I do with what I am, but I should never despise who I am;

¨   That the song you want me to sing is my song, not someone else's. 

Please do not let me forget: 

¨   That every other person in the world is just as special as I am;

¨   That I, therefore, have no right to ask others to treat me differently than other people are treated, no right to assume other people will see me as being special in a way they are not. 

Nurture in me today, I pray, this elusive blending of pride and humility. Amen.