I wrote this prayer over five years ago.
To post it again today, only one edit necessary:
changing “Annapolis" to "Lewiston."
Lord, I doubt that anyone in Lewiston
woke up on Wednesday morning and thought,
"Hmm.. maybe it will be our turn today..."
But I'm beginning to wonder...
Is this how it is, Lord?
Is this how it's going to be?
Are we all, in our own cities and towns,
just waiting until it's "our turn,"
waiting for the day when the shots ring out
on our street?
at our kids' school?
at our grocery store?
at our mall?
at our place of work?
in our house of worship?
I don't mean to sound morbid, Lord,
but the reality is grim:
too many guns
in too many places
on too many days
leaving too many dead, wounded, grieving
but the reality is grim:
too many guns
in too many places
on too many days
leaving too many dead, wounded, grieving
- and fearful of waking up and wondering,
"Hmm.. maybe it will be our turn today..."
Help me, Lord - help all of us -
to not be afraid
and to trust that in you
all shall be well,
that all shall be well...
Shall. Be. Well.
Help us, Lord, to know what to do
to make things better, more safe and secure
for all - and the sooner the later...
Help us know what to do about guns
and give us the courage
to do what we know must be done...
Help us identify the quietly violent
who live in our midst;
help us learn how to reach them,
learn how to heal them
and bring how to bring them to peace
- with might simmer or rage inside them...
Help us turn from violence
in our music and art
in our language and entertainment,
as the hair-trigger answer to our problems...
(And while you're at it, Lord:
please heal me of any violence,
however slight, however subtle,
in my mind, in my thoughts
and deep in my soul...
please heal me of any violence,
however slight, however subtle,
in my mind, in my thoughts
and deep in my soul...
Heal me of any rage or anger
lurking in my resentments,
held in my grudges
and asleep in in the petty squabbles
that distance and divide me
from my neighbor and from you...)
Help us, Lord, with your mercy and grace,
to shape a world where your love reigns
and where, each morning we wake and wonder,
"Hmm... "Is this the day, my chance, my turn,
to serve as an instrument of your peace?"
Amen.
This is not the arrangement of the Saint Francis Prayer
you're probably familiar with. I trust you'll find this a
hauntingly beautiful setting of that familiar prayer and
appropriate for today's Pause for Prayer.
Make Me A Channel of Your Peace by Allen Pote,
performed by the 7PM Sunday Choir
If a video doesn't appear below, click here!
That is an exceptional version of prayer of St Francis. I was drawn right into it.
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