Prayers of Compassion from All-Creatures.org

Prayer to Break Free of the Deception of Domination

From Tams Nicholson, OFS and Executive Director of All-Creatures.org

Today we acknowledge Your beloved creatures, many of whom we treat in the worst possible ways. We were tricked into believing that they cannot think, feel, or suffer and have been encouraged to treat them as objects. How deceived in the world’s darkness we have become. How easily we have been fooled.

We pray now to break free of these deceptions. We know Your love allows the heart of each human and each animal to begin beating at birth. It is happening every day ... beautiful new lives. Each creature, like us, is designed by You to grow, live, and be in the fullness of love and safety of their families, natural communities, and upon this beautiful planet that you made for all of us. To make sure this happens, You instruct us to have dominion over the creatures … meaning bestowing lovingkindness, compassion, mercy, and to provide protection for them as You do for us. We have corrupted your instructions, forgotten the truth, spread violence upon the land, air, and sea, and turned dominion into domination.

Creator God, we lift up our hearts and minds today and ask for Your help to identify and acknowledge our corruption of your instructions of dominion and our participation in domination. Let us break free from this deception now by recognizing that Your original plan and design made us solely plant eaters in the beginning and we lived as vegans from the beginning in Eden. Scripture also states that heaven has no death and suffering. It is vegan. So let us awaken from the deception of this current life and realize that we are not to rejoice in the deaths of others or participate, directly or indirectly, as we walk during this period in between fallen Eden and heaven. Let us be awake in love and walk in Your way of peace. Creator, forgive us for being deceived by the world. We turn our hearts back to You now and agree to stop our domination and return to what You called us to do, bestow Your loving dominion over all creatures and our fellow humans.

Amen

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