God of compassion, we hold before your our troubled world. We see many examples of hostility. We know of breakdowns in family relationships; of suspicion of people who come from different races; of disapproval of life choices or lifestyles; of conflict over political choices and of escalation of these differences, resulting in terrifying wars on a global level.

History tells us that differences can be resolved by negotiation and compromise. We can achieve much by trying to see life from the perspective of those who seem different from ourselves. Help us to replace fear by understanding, hatred by compassion and arrogance by humility.

In the name of Jesus Amen