Praying for Peace

As we all listen to and watch the news coming from Israel and Palestine, our hearts go out to the many innocent people whose lives will be forever changed in these days.  Let us not grow weary as we offer prayers for safety, peace, strength, and healing.

I share with you this prayer, offered by Steven Charleston, Episcopal Bishop and Citizen of the Choctaw Nation:

I pray for your peace in troubled lands, in places where people fear each day, in cities or villages under threat of danger. I pray your peace into the hearts of those who hate, into the minds of those who live in anger, of those who long for revenge. The hot winds of war sweep over so many lives, dear God, terror and cruelty following in their wake, I do not know what else to do, but stand here making my appeal to heaven. Peace I pray. Peace against all the odds, peace without compromise, peace strong and enduring, peace so children never worry as they go to sleep.