That it may please thee to have mercy upon all mankind,

That it may please thee to have mercy upon all mankind, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

This world is full of turmoil and it seems to be getting worse with each generation. I am afraid for our planet and for God's children. My thoughts remind me of the passages in Genesis where Abraham is trying the Lord's patience when he learns that the Lord intends to "sweep away the righteous with the wicked". "Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?" And the Lord basically says, "Okay, if I find fifty righteous, I will forgive them all". Then Abraham presses harder, "But what if five of the fifty are lacking?" And the Lord says, "Okay, then I won't destroy it for forty-five." And so Abraham talks the Lord down to saving the city if only ten are found righteous.

I get the feeling here that God's true intention was not to destroy but to get us to be more aware of the needs of those around us by testing Abraham's compassion level. If we could even now be truly compassionate towards one another, we will have saved humankind.