A Prayer for Understanding

The events of the past week have evoked a wide range of responses. Timothy Merrill, Executive Editor of Homiletics magazine, offered the following prayer on Midrash (an online discussion forum for preachers and teachers.):

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Almighty and Merciful God, this week a foe has fallen - and we have rejoiced. This enemy was not just our enemy, but a threat to those of his own religious faith, a menace to his countrymen and unwanted, disavowed and condemned by virtually every nation-state in the world. Thousands of men, women and children have perished, suffering horrible deaths, because of the diabolical plans of this foe. So, we celebrated.

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We hooped and hollered. We waved flags. We danced in the streets of lower Manhattan. We sang our national anthem. And we did so spontaneously - as with the joy of the thirsty drinking cool water, the joy of the hungry sated with food, the joy of the sorrowful now comforted in their mourning. In those first few hours following the news, it was as though we rose off the ash pit, anointed ourselves with the "oil of gladness" and donned "the garments of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

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And if in the dancing, the waving, and the singing there was anything unseemly, we confess our sin, for our motives are seldom pure and who can know our hearts, but You, O God?

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The death of any living soul is sobering. But we ask You not to consider us blameworthy, to remember our natural love of country, to remember our basic sense of decency, to remember our empathy with the thousands of families whose loved ones perished ten years ago, and to have mercy on us, for You "O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."

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May we - our national leaders and the community of nations - move forward from this moment to not only defend the innocent from the demons of destruction and the architect of annihilation, but to refocus our national will to protect the weak, and - in the words of the ancient prophet - to rise up against "those who make unjust laws, against those who deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."

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Make we reconsider again what it means to "act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God."

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Loving God, a foe has fallen. We have rejoiced. But acknowledge that wickedness abounds and that we must stay ever vigilant. Empower us to return to our duty to "preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to comfort those who mourn and to provide for those who grieve."

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This we ask int he name of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior, who taught us to pray, saying: "Our Father..."

(written by Timoty Merrill, used by permission)