As we remember all who perished in their innocence and in their dedication to serve, and as we mourn the loss of our soldiers and the sorrow of their families let us not forget that the pain of this tragedy touches people across the world.
Let us remember the Iraqi’s who have died and continue to suffer daily and the tragedies of the people of Afghanistan. Let’s remember the victims of terrorism in Spain and England and Beirut and Israel.
And let us remember that the world’s religions have given us the words to speak when it seems impossible to utter meaningful words. From The Gift of Prayer
A Jewish Prayer for Peace “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation-neither shall they learn war anymore. And none shall be afraid…”A Christian Prayer for Peace
“But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God.”A Baha’i Prayer for Peace
“Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity…be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home to the stranger. Be eyes to the blind and a guiding light unto the feet on the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of Human-kind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humanity”A Muslim Prayer for Peace
“In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into the tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other.”A Unitarian Prayer for Peace
May we have the courage and conviction to honestly engage the difficult questions; to speak hard truths, to accept our responsibility to each other and the world. May we find the strength and vision to end the cycles of violence.
Imagine for a moment if UN Peacekeepers entered a country armed with medicine and clean drinking water and books and hammer and nails and open arms.
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