(Excerpt from Midday Prayer before our Memorial Day Picnic)
Lord of hope and compassion, Friend of Abraham who called our father in faith to journey to a new future, we remember before you the country of Iraq from which he was summoned, the ancient land of the Middle East, realm of the two rivers, birthplace of great cities and of civilization. May we who name ourselves children of Abraham, call to mind all the peoples of the Middle East who honor him as father; those who guard and celebrate the Torah; those for whom the Word has walked on earth and lived among us; those who follow their prophet, who listened for the word in the desert and shaped a community after what he heard.Lord of reconciliation, God of the painful sacrifice uniting humankind, we long for the day when you will provide for all nations of the earth your blessing of peace. But now when strife and war are at hand, help us to see in each other a family likeness, our inheritance from our one father Abraham. Keep hatred from the threshold of our hearts, and preserve within us a generous spirit which recognizes in
both foe and friend a common humanity.
(Alan and Clare Amos -Iona Community – www.iona.org.uk )
We praise and thank you, our loving God, for all those down through the ages and into our own time whose sacrifices made it possible for us to utter this prayer. For our peace and freedom and the feast laid before us make us truly grateful. This we ask in the name of the one who came to offer us the costly gift of abundant life, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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