Litany for the Left Out

Christ, Make us one.

I have been thinking a lot about “Oneness in Christ” lately.
Saturday I started riffing on this “Litany for the Left Out.”
Maybe it will become a song.
Perhaps it is just for this moment.
You may agree or disagree.
Most likely not many people will read it.
That's ok.
Regardless, my prayer remains the same.

Christ, make us one

To the nameless, the left out, the lonely, forgotten.
The abandoned, unwanted, the child misbegotten
The confused, and the hurting, the misunderstood
Come, join in the feast. There is plenty of food

Christ, make us one

To the neurodivergent, the anxious, and wounded
The chronically ridiculed child excluded
To the ones written off as too different or odd
You are beloved and made in the image of God

Christ, make us one

To the one told their trauma is “All in God’s plan,”
Met with platitudes, verses, and dismissive hands
The ones medicating, just to survive
God holds space for your sorrow, stays with you and cries.

Christ, make us one

To the immigrant forcibly ripped from your family
detained and deported as political strategy
The one who is “othered” by people of faith
In God’s kingdom, you’re welcome. There’s plenty of space

Christ, make us one

To the queer and the questioning, the shamed, and the shunned,
The woman ignored, and the transgender son.
To you who’ve been told that your love isn’t right
There is room at the table, there’s a place at Christ's side.

Christ, make us one

To the spouse who was told she should, “Stay and forgive,”
While abuse was the cost they were asked to outlive.
To the silenced, dismissed, and the ones never heard
There is justice in Jesus, God’s living word

Christ, make us one

To the black and the brown person told to comply,
Whose worth is dismissed, while they watch their friends die.
To the ones with their hands up, still seen as a threat
You belong in this Body. We will not forget.

Christ, make us one