A Prayer for My Sons

Post Author: Stephanie Sorge

The author’s sons, Isaac and Micah

A Prayer for My Sons:

God, protect them.
Protect them from ignorance of their privilege and the advantages they will have as white men.
Protect them from entitlement.
Protect them from being indoctrinated into a system of white, male violence against women and against people of color.
Protect them from the temptation to stay silent and complicit when they witness injustice.
Protect them from the illusion that we live in a post-racial society of equality and justice.
Protect them from insular living that might threaten their empathy or release them from righteous anger when any of your children are hurt or in need.
Protect them from the dominant cultural voice that defines what it means to be a man. Allow them to be fully who you have created them to be.
Protect them from “boys will be boys.”
Protect them from being shielded from the consequences of their actions because of their privilege.
Protect them from guns. Seriously.
 May these two, perfect, cherished children know how much they are loved, and may they always know that they are made in your image, but that you are not made in theirs. May they see the image of God in every person they meet. May their hearts be broken as yours is surely broken by the violence, injustice, pain and suffering of all the world. May they speak strongly out of their privilege as allies and advocates, and may they stay silent and listen, and learn from and make space for the voices that have been too long silenced. Light in them a fire for your justice, a yearning for your peace, and empower them to live their lives working for your reign of righteousness, peace, justice, and love.
Amen.