Hear our cries, God!
Invasion, occupation, and terror,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Dead bodies, wounded bodies, orphans,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Prisoners, hostages, refugees,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Anguish, hopelessness, rage,
bombs, bullets and missiles.
Destruction on the grandest scale,
the earth cratered with hatred.
Jesus, make it stop.
Every war ends.
Help us…
Remember with clear eyes the uncountable cost of war.
Remember with deep sorrow those who killed and were killed.
Remember with grief the blood-stained battlefields.
Remember with horror the destroyed neighbourhoods.
Remember with tears the trail of people fleeing their homeland.
Remember with compassion the bereaved and the wounded.
God sees Hagar. God sees the one who is enslaved and oppressed, God sees the one who is assaulted, God sees the one who runs away out in despair. God sees Hagar, but do we see Hagar? Her story is in scripture, but we don’t give much thought to Hagar.
Three stories of peace in the midst of violence: Jehoshabeath, J.S. Woodsworth, and John Witmer. Every action for peace makes a difference.
God of angel armies, hear our prayer
for your beloved world.
Cast out the demon of bomb dropping.
Cast out the demon of rocket hurling.
Cast out the demon of bullet shooting.
Cast out the demon of hostage holding.
Cast out the demon of civilian persecuting.
It’s a great big world you’ve made, God,
and we are small bits upon it.
The mountains, the glaciers, the bounding oceans,
the mass of the earth beneath our feet,
the reach of the stars, and the galaxies stretching
to infinite distances, known only by you.
Give us a universal vision, to see our planet as you do.
Could there be peace on earth, could it begin with me?
God the Almighty longs for peace;
God confronts the desolation of war.
God cradles the broken bodies
and feels the agony of violence.
Jesus kneels with the grieving
and collects their wild tears.
The Holy Spirit broods over the bent world
counting the cost of carnage.
The Lord of hosts is with us,
the God of Jacob is our refuge
as we long for peace….
God of Wisdom,
As we remember the atomic blasts, the gas chambers, the killing fields,
as we remember the war machines and the military establishments,
as we remember Hitler and Pol Pot, Jim Crow and the Indian Act,
call us to account for our own whispered innuendo,
our own snubs, our own finger pointing,
our own eyes averted from injustice, our own cutting words,
our own shove, our own furtive slap.
Do not allow the grandstand atrocities to blind us to our own cruelties.
From the darkness of our bedrooms to skyscraper boardrooms,
from schools and churches to houses of parliament,
give us ears to hear your call to peace in our time,
peace with our own two hands.
Perfect love casts our fear
and so today we pray for your spirit of love on our world.
Cast out the shooting of bullets into people’s bodies.
Cast out the explosion of bombs in crowded places.
Cast out the desperation that leads people to terrorist acts.
Cast out the making of walls that divide and imprison us.
Cast out the prejudice against people of a certain race or culture.
Cast out the political structures that perpetuate violence.
Cast out the hatred that produces fear.
Send down the courage to reach out in peace.
Send down the resolution to not return evil for evil.
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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