A Post-dated Remembrance Day Prayer

Remembrance Day Prayer 

Dear God,

As adults in this world, as keepers of the littlest of Your children, we are charged with the task of explaining how the world we live in actually works. Not least of which, I might add, is the insurmountable, alpine task of explaining to these innocent, wide-eyed children why wars happen, why people feel the need to kill one another, why hatred exists, the reason why their big brother or sister is never coming home again. I feel so unequipped for this task, O God. I can’t even begin to understand why these things happen for myself, Lord, let alone explain it to our most precious of cargo, and to be frank, oh Lord, I’m not sure that I ever want to understand that kind of hatred.
 

What I do know, O God, is that for all the evil man has created in Your world, for all the atrocities we see, and that we attempt to prepare our young to go out into, Lord, You are the good, You alone are the way, the truth, the light and the life. Despite all the bad in our world, or perhaps because of it, You have planted a mustard seed of talent within each and every one of us, a gift to be used for the establishment of Your Kingdom. 

I pray to You, O God, on this Remembrance Day, I beg of You, to help us remember the power which each of us has inside, the power to affect change, to be a pillar of light and of all that is good in this world, a pillar of Your love, help us to be Your hands, on earth, God, doing Your will, spreading Your message of love and salvation to everyone we meet, Lord, not through proselytizing, but in the way in which we live our lives, Lord, may we always seek to glorify You. 

For although we are fortunate to live in an area of the world that remains relatively untouched by armed combat, and although the war-torn areas of the world often seem so far away, Lord, the same blood that runs through their veins, runs through ours, and the same blood that runs through our veins runs through theirs, we are one. And if the peace that we seek, that we pray for each day, shall come to pass, the kind of all-encompassing world peace that will bring an end to war, hatred, and suffering, if that peace is ever to come and reign over all of Your children, Lord, it must begin with us. It is in our day-to-day interactions with other people, Lord, that we create that peace that can change the world. Please help us to use the power You have instilled in all of us, Lord, for good. Help us feel Your love for us, Lord, that we may forgive ourselves for our own missteps. Help us to share the love and to treat each person we encounter with respect and understanding, bearing in mind that the wars we send our young men and women off to fight, end with us, and our actions and how we choose to treat each other, with Your love. 

In Christ’s most holy name we pray,
Amen

Posted with permission from Aarika Black, Hamilton Congregation, Nov 11, 2012