Journal of Sacred Work

Days 320-321 Love Holds Us Together

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Prayer for Peace

Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes
to care for all the people
of this world
as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God,
to understand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace–not war–wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
 patient with us.
 gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through
The One without vengeance of heart
 ~Amen

(Adapted from a prayer written by Sister Joan Chittister)

 
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6 responses to “Days 320-321 Love Holds Us Together”

  1. Julie Laverdiere Avatar
    Julie Laverdiere

    Lovely!

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  2. Jolyon Avatar
    Jolyon

    As it is said in ‘V for Vendetta’ – there are no coincidences. This was posted as the Wikiquote of the day as Liz posted her reflection. I cannot think of anything more that mirrors the thoughts.
    When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered. We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force.
    ~ Robert F. Kennedy ~
    P.S. Forgot to say how much I loved the tree in last weeks reflection…something about seasons changing!

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  3. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Your watercolor is as beautiful as your heart. If only the world would listen to Sister Joan and to King: “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

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  4. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Thanks, Julie for your affirmation and friendship!

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  5. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Hi Jolyon, yes Nov 22 marked the 52nd anniversary of the tragic day when President Kennedy was assassinated. Parker Palmer wrote a poem in response called, “The Day My World Unraveled” as follows;
    On this day long years ago, our promising
    young President was killed. He was far too young
    to die and I too young to watch my world unravel
    as it did. I grieved my loss, our loss, then started
    to reweave—a work, a life, a world—not knowing
    then what I know now: the world unravels always,
    and it must be rewoven time and time again.
    You must keep collecting threads—threads of meaning,
    threads of hope, threads of purpose, energy and will—
    along with all the knowledge, skill that every weaver needs.
    You must keep on weaving—stopping sometimes only
    to repair your broken loom—weave a cloak of warmth
    and light against the dark and cold, a cloak in which
    to wrap whoever comes to you in need—the world
    with all its suffering, those near at hand, yourself.
    And, if you are lucky, you will find along the way
    the thread with which you can reweave your own
    tattered life, the thread that more than any other
    laces us with warmth and light, making both the
    weaver and the weaving true—the red thread
    they call Love, the thread you hold, then
    hand along, saying to another, “You.”
    Written by -Parker J Palmer
    (By the way the tree is in Pat’s front yard.)

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  6. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Thank you, Erie. Yes, if only we could really see each other…

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