An Honest Prayer for When You Were Taught the World Was Evil

God,
I was taught to fear what You called good.
To see danger in difference.
To shrink from beauty that didn’t carry a Bible verse.

They told me the world was evil -
not broken, not aching, not in need of love -
evil.
And I believed them.
I built my walls high and called it holiness.
I mistook suspicion for discernment,
withdrawal for wisdom,
fear for faith.

But You -
You are the God who touched lepers,
who shared meals with doubters,
who met people in the middle of their mess,
not on the other side of it.
You never asked us to build fortresses.
You asked us to build tables.

So unteach me the reflex to hide.
Unlearn me from purity that isolates.
Show me how to see Your fingerprints
in scientists and poets,
protesters and painters,
mothers and midwives,
atheists and believers alike.

Remind me that light does not fear the dark -
it transforms it.
That empathy is not compromise.
That love cannot be contaminated.

Help me live with open hands instead of clenched fists.
Help me remember that holiness is not separation -
it’s incarnation.
It’s You, choosing to step into the world
instead of standing apart from it.

And when fear whispers that the world is too far gone,
teach me to listen for the groaning -
the sound of creation aching for redemption -
and to join You in the healing,
not the hiding.

Amen.