Praying for the World March 2, 2026 Issue

Prayer that heals divisiveness

I have newfound hope that, with steadfast prayers from every one of us, intense political division can be healed.

Inge Schmidt

Talking about politics used to be considered taboo—not appropriate for polite society. Today, though, political beliefs are often freely—and loudly—shared as tensions continue to escalate in the United States and around the world. Asking “What are your politics?” no longer launches a healthy and active civic debate. Instead, intense partisanship has emerged as a form of “us versus them” tribalism.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, had a radically different response: “I am asked, ‘What are your politics?’ I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government; to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 276). As someone who has always had an interest in government, I’ve thought about her words often.

Loving as Jesus taught is what heals the entrenched vitriol of partisanship.

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Prayer that heals divisiveness

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