A Concord Pastor Comments: NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 9/3

Lord,
the air is thick with mean-spirited, personal attacks,
distortions and lies, name calling and false reports,
bullying, calumny and defamation,
animosity and fractious debate:
   friends, family and neighbors are parting ways
   over politics, candidates and ideologies...

I don't know whom or what to believe
nor to whom I can speak plainly
without fear of being "unfriended"
by a relative or neighbor...

And the issues aren't small: they're huge!
What's at stake is critically important,
with world-wide implications and impact...

And in the midst of all of this,
we're being asked to choose
who will lead the free world
for the next four years...

No matter how high our goals and values,
no matter how right our positions might be,
no matter how just the stands we take,
one thing's for certain, Lord:
we've lost our way on your path,
we're not walking as people of peace...

It's overwhelming, Lord:
so much seems beyond our control,
beyond the reach of any and all,
beyond our capacity to make a difference...

So, I pray, Lord, for peace,
that you make us servants of your peace,
servants of your truth, your word and your wisdom,
servants of the love with which you care for
the least among us all...

Make us servants of your peace, Lord,
humble servants of your peace,
gracious servants of your peace:
the peace that's only yours to give...

Protect us, Lord, while we lie awake
and watch over us as we try to sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with Christ
and asleep, rest in his peace...

Amen.

Lord, Make Us Servants of Your Peace by Compline Choir of St. Mark's Cathedral

1. Lord, make us servants of your peace;
where there is hate, may we sow love;
where there is hurt, may we forgive;
where there is strife, may we make one.

2. Where all is doubt, may we sow faith;
where all is gloom, may we sow hope,
where all is night, may we sow light;
where all is tears, may we sow joy.

3. Jesus, our Lord, may we not seek
to be consoled, but to console,
nor look to understanding hearts,
but look for hearts to understand.

4. May we not look for love’s return,
but seek to love unselfishly,
for in our giving we receive,
and in forgiving are forgiven.

5. Dying, we live, and are reborn
through death’s dark night to endless day;
Lord, make us servants of your peace,
to wake at last in heaven’s light.