Dear God of all creation.

Be with us as we struggle every day to befaithful to you and your loving ways.

Help us to remember that we can best teach children about your unconditional love by the way we treat them and each other. Guide us to understand that we can best teach about caring for the earth by our own habits of good stewardship. Give us the insight to teach about non-violence by the way we handle conflicts in our own lives. Grant us the courage to teach about acceptance by striving to overcome the racism that resides in our own hearts.

During this month of October, many of us are participating in the Children’s Defense Fund’s Children’s Sabbaths. As we become aware of the great needs of so many children, let us not turn our hearts away. Lead us in our efforts to make sure that all children have a fighting chance by having a head start, a healthy start, a fair start, a safe start and a moral start to life.

Guide us to a place where we truly understand that all children are our children, those who are close to us and those who reside in distant lands. Amen.