A Prayer for Peace

By Rev. Ethan Brown

Pastor and Minister of Service & Community

The news out of the Middle East this week is shocking in its sudden potency. While I do not believe there is any theological significance in the current political entity of Israel, I grieve for the families that have been devastated by violence these last several days and for the shattering of whatever fragile sense of peace these communities had lived in. I grieve the realities of daily life for tens of thousands of Palestinians that has bred desperation and anger. I grieve the corrosive hatred that has led some to these terrible acts of violence and will guide others to the terrible violence of tomorrow.

Below is a prayer from the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It was written in 2021 for a different moment of violence, but its plea still echoes. We prayed it last night during our Wednesday night fellowship, but I hope you will join me in praying it again and again and again and again, until there is peace. Lord have mercy...

A Litany for the Restoration of Peace in the Holy Land
God of peace, we pray for the people of Palestine and Israel in these perilous and dangerous times.

For all who are fearful for the safety of their loved ones and themselves, we pray that the assurance of unfailing love, even in the midst of danger, settles upon them. Shelter them from despair and protect them from harm.

For all who are wounded, we pray they find healing. For all who have died, we pray they find rest. For all who grieve, we pray they find comfort.

For leaders on all sides, we pray for a renewed will to lay down arms, for the strength to put the grievances and wrongs suffered by their people to rest, and for the conviction to embrace a path of reconciliation and peace that preserves the rights and dignity of all of your children.

God of mercy, help us to remember there is no border that can separate us from your great love and protection, no stone that can sound the well of your deep mercy.

God of justice, we pray with hopeful hearts that your beloved children of the Holy Land will be spared a future of sustained violence and unrest and that a recognition of the humanity of all people will prevail.
We as this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, 2021