For Peace (1)
Prayer
Gentle Words In A Raging Storm
Prayers for all occasions
O God of Life,
we call to you from the death that is all around us.
O God of Light,
we speak to you from the darkness within us.
We raise to you the war that rages within us,
for we are motivated by self-preservation
rather than inspired by self-sacrifice.
We follow the path of pride
rather than the highway of humility.
We listen to the gospel of greed
rather than preach the gospel of grace.
O God, grant us your peace -- that peace which passes
all understanding,
that peace which can remake us and restore us as a
child of God blessed by our baptism and sacrificed
at your table to the work of reconciliation,
forgiveness, peacemaking.
Calm our fears and self-doubts,
our anxieties about tomorrow.
Still our futile attempts to secure the future by
money or military arms.
Help us, instead, O Lord, to rely on the hard work
of negotiation, of compromise, of treaty-making,
of cooperating and tolerating nations and individuals
with whom we differ,
who anger and irritate us,
even those we would rather hurt than befriend.
Give us courage, O God, to risk our limitations in
the unlimited promise of love. Amen.
For Peace (2)
O Lord, where shall we go to find peace?
We look to the business of our lives, the work that
calls us to its activity each day and we find no peace.
We look to family and friends and discover the demands
and difficulties of mature, healthy relationships.
Where do we find your peace?
O Lord, we wish you would only take us out to green
pastures or lead us beside still waters so we may
enjoy the tranquility and solace that comes from
your Spirit. For we have found some peace in those
moments when you have called us out of the city to
a place of reflection and meditation on your
nourishing, healing word.
We would like to stay there, Lord, in flowery meadow
or quiet stream, but you lead us back to the challenge
of our existence, the demands of our society, and the
human condition.
You set a table before us in the presence of our
enemies, but it is the table of sacrificial love placed
in the midst of our conflicts, our disagreements,
our confusion, and disloyalty to your word and way.
O Lord, give us faith to see beyond the stress and
distraction of our earthly engagements to the
possibility of love in our lives --Êand so discover
the peace which abides.
O Lord of our hearts and minds, we know you are always
with us and you love us.
Grant us the peace that comes from that reassurance
so that whether we walk through fields of flowers
or stumble along streets of sadness, we will walk
beside you. Amen.
For Peace (3)
What does it take to make for peace
in this warring world, O God?
How many lives must be lost
before we are able to see the senselessness
of bloodshed, the endlessness of retribution?
What more horrific, unspeakable assault
against the sanctity of human life
must we make until we learn that
violence only begets violence,
forceful submission only produces
resentment and vengeful resolve,
killing our neighbor always means killing
something within our own soul?
Where is love in this hate-generating world?
How can we stop the descent into more destruction,
more death?
Is there some way the love you have sown in our hearts
might blossom and grow
until the tree of life towers
over the shadow of death?
Or has that Love who died on the tree of death
already risen to the heavens
to sing your song of life
and of the transforming power of love? Amen.
we call to you from the death that is all around us.
O God of Light,
we speak to you from the darkness within us.
We raise to you the war that rages within us,
for we are motivated by self-preservation
rather than inspired by self-sacrifice.
We follow the path of pride
rather than the highway of humility.
We listen to the gospel of greed
rather than preach the gospel of grace.
O God, grant us your peace -- that peace which passes
all understanding,
that peace which can remake us and restore us as a
child of God blessed by our baptism and sacrificed
at your table to the work of reconciliation,
forgiveness, peacemaking.
Calm our fears and self-doubts,
our anxieties about tomorrow.
Still our futile attempts to secure the future by
money or military arms.
Help us, instead, O Lord, to rely on the hard work
of negotiation, of compromise, of treaty-making,
of cooperating and tolerating nations and individuals
with whom we differ,
who anger and irritate us,
even those we would rather hurt than befriend.
Give us courage, O God, to risk our limitations in
the unlimited promise of love. Amen.
For Peace (2)
O Lord, where shall we go to find peace?
We look to the business of our lives, the work that
calls us to its activity each day and we find no peace.
We look to family and friends and discover the demands
and difficulties of mature, healthy relationships.
Where do we find your peace?
O Lord, we wish you would only take us out to green
pastures or lead us beside still waters so we may
enjoy the tranquility and solace that comes from
your Spirit. For we have found some peace in those
moments when you have called us out of the city to
a place of reflection and meditation on your
nourishing, healing word.
We would like to stay there, Lord, in flowery meadow
or quiet stream, but you lead us back to the challenge
of our existence, the demands of our society, and the
human condition.
You set a table before us in the presence of our
enemies, but it is the table of sacrificial love placed
in the midst of our conflicts, our disagreements,
our confusion, and disloyalty to your word and way.
O Lord, give us faith to see beyond the stress and
distraction of our earthly engagements to the
possibility of love in our lives --Êand so discover
the peace which abides.
O Lord of our hearts and minds, we know you are always
with us and you love us.
Grant us the peace that comes from that reassurance
so that whether we walk through fields of flowers
or stumble along streets of sadness, we will walk
beside you. Amen.
For Peace (3)
What does it take to make for peace
in this warring world, O God?
How many lives must be lost
before we are able to see the senselessness
of bloodshed, the endlessness of retribution?
What more horrific, unspeakable assault
against the sanctity of human life
must we make until we learn that
violence only begets violence,
forceful submission only produces
resentment and vengeful resolve,
killing our neighbor always means killing
something within our own soul?
Where is love in this hate-generating world?
How can we stop the descent into more destruction,
more death?
Is there some way the love you have sown in our hearts
might blossom and grow
until the tree of life towers
over the shadow of death?
Or has that Love who died on the tree of death
already risen to the heavens
to sing your song of life
and of the transforming power of love? Amen.
