a Prayer for Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad

 

 

God of mercy, whose presence sustains us in every circumstance,

in the midst of unfolding violence and the aftermath of terror and loss,
we seek the grounding power of your love and compassion.

In these days of fearful danger and division, we need to believe somehow that your kindom of peace 

in which all nations and tribes and languages dwell together in peace is still a possibility.

Give us hope and courage that we may not yield our humanity to fear,
even in these endless days of dwelling in the valley of the shadow of death.

We pray for neighbors in Paris, in Beirut, in Baghdad, who, in the midst of the grace of ordinary life–

while at work, or at play, have been violently assaulted, their lives cut off without mercy.

We are hostages of fear, caught in an escalating cycle of violence whose end can not be seen.

We open our hearts in anger, sorrow and hope: 

that those who have been spared as well as those whose lives are changed forever may find solace, 

sustenance, and strength in the days of recovery and reflection that come. 

We give thanks for strangers who comfort the wounded and who welcome stranded strangers,

for first responders who run toward the sound of gunfire and into the smoke and fire of bombing sites.

Once again, Holy One, we cry, how long, O Lord? 

We seek forgiveness for the ways in which we have tolerated enmity and endured cultures of violence 

with weary resignation. We grieve the continued erosion of the fabric of our common life, 

the reality of fear that warps the common good. We pray in grief, 

remembering the lives that have been lost and maimed, in body or spirit.

We ask for sustaining courage for those who are suffering; 

wisdom and diligence among global and national agencies and individuals assessing threat 

and directing relief efforts; and for our anger and sorrow to unite in service 

to the establishment of a reign of peace, where the lion and the lamb may dwell together, 

and terror will not hold sway over our common life.

In these days of shock and sorrow, open our eyes, our hearts, and our hands 

to the movements of your Spirit, who flows in us like the river whose streams makes glad the city of God, 

and the hearts of all who dwell in it, and in You.

In the name of Christ, 

our Healer and our Light, we pray.

Amen.

 thanks to Laurie Ann Kraus
Coordinator, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance