Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Church--Unitarian Universalist
“Peaceful Means”
Rev. David Takahashi Morris
September 9, 2007
Meditation for a Nation At
War
I invite you to join with me in a spirit of meditation and of prayer, to invoke the power and grace of our highest reverence in the face of some of the most challenging realities of our world. I invite you to consider these hard truths in the light of compassion and hope, and to respond with this prayer:
May
we find a way toward peace.
Since September 11, 2001, our nation has been engaged in war. There are those who would have us forget about this war except at their convenience. This we must not do, for it is a denial of our responsibility as citizens, and it is disrespectful of those who bear the highest costs of the war. So let us remember that our nation is engaged in war, and let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.
On September 11, 2001, an eruption of hatred and violence claimed more than 3,000 lives. Let us remember to mourn the lives that were lost that day. Let us hold in our hearts their devastated loved ones, all those who were close to the horrors of that day, and all those who responded with acts of courage and grace. Let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.
Our nation responded to the anguish of that day with the rage and force of war. In its current manifestation in Iraq, war has taken the lives of more than 4,000 men and women serving as coalition soldiers. It has taken the lives of 71 to 78 thousand Iraqi civilians by some estimates, hundreds of thousands by other counts. Let us count the costs of war. . . and let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.
Women and men who wish to give their best to the country they love are living every day at risk of death or devastating injury. They confront terrors that will haunt them for years. They live with the agonizing moral ambiguities of warfare, when no course of action will leave them without regret. Let us remember what our nation has asked of them, and let us vow not to make them bear war’s spiritual burdens alone. . . .and let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.
The financial costs of war have taken away opportunities to alleviate much suffering in this country and abroad. Those opportunities are gone and will not return, perhaps for a generation or even longer as the long-term effects of war play themselves out. Let us count the costs of war. . . and let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.
Two years ago on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we began to symbolize our responsibility to remember that we live in a nation at war by lighting two pillar candles among our Candles of Hope and Remembrance. Last year on this anniversary we renewed the candles and our commitment to remember, and today we do so again. So long as we are at war, we will remember. The blue candle will hold our concern for all whose lives are in danger because of the war; the white candle will hold our greater hopes for peace. So as the new candles are kindled for the first time, let us pray:
May
we find a way toward peace.