Another devastating terrorist attack, an attempted coup in a nation which is an important if also uncertain ally, an upcoming political convention whose very existence provokes widespread concerns for public safety: In the midst of all of it we hear the calming voice of the Psalmist, who declares on behalf of the Holy One of Israel, “Be still, and know that I am God.” We join together to give praise to our Creator, without whose presence in our lives we would feel abandoned and lost. Let us worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
We thank Thee, O God, for creating the universe and the world, and for creating it good. We thank Thee for Thy spirit moving among human beings for all of our time on earth, and for inspiring us to seek to do the right and to promote Thy will for Thy creation. But we confess that too often we fail to enact the moral precepts Thou hast instilled into our hearts. We pray for people whose lives have been turned upside down by terrorists, and who live in constant fear that they may strike again. We pray for all those who have lost loved ones in terrorist attacks anywhere in the world during the last several decades. We ask that Thy powerful guidance may change the hearts of fanatical religious zealots who convince easily suggestible young men to become killers in the name of twisted and perverse religious teachings gone absolutely amuck. In these tense times grant us deep spiritual strength, and keep us from plummeting into growing despair.
We pray for all the people whose responsibility it is to infiltrate the cadres of political and religious hatred, and to identify potential terrorists. In the murky world in which they are forced to operate, give them clarity of purpose as well as vision, so that they may succeed in thwarting chaos, often without the people they are called to serve ever knowing what they have done. Where violence and ethics intercede, give insight to those whose lives are committed to being in morally ambivalent places.
We thank Thee, Lord God, for the assurance of Thy presence with us at all times and in all places. Even though we cannot see Thee, we trust in Thee. Though we do not agree on where or how we encounter Thee, we nevertheless thank Thee for the encounter. Come to us especially when we seem incapable of perceiving Thy presence, and give us faith for the long haul of our long lives. We need Thee every hour, most precious Lord. We thank Thee for the access we have to Thee by means of prayer, and for the one who has led us into our awareness of Thee, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now we pray together as Jesus taught his followers, saying, Our Father….