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In the News:
Memorial Day Prayers
May 23,
2008
Dear Old
South Friends,
As our nation pauses on Monday to remember the
war dead, I have pasted below two prayers you might use as you gather
with family and friends, or simply as a time of quiet devotion. The
first prayer was written by the Reverend Dr. William Sloane Coffin,
Jr., of blessed memory. It was prayed on a Memorial Sunday at the
Riverside Church in New York City where he was serving. Below that you
will find a Prayer of Remembrance adapted from A Book of Worship For
Free Churches.
MEMORIAL DAY PRAYER by William
Sloane Coffin, Jr.
Gracious God, whose own Son's
term of service to humanity was so full that its brevity was no
distress, we call to mind on this Memorial Sunday those who will not
grow old as we are left to grow old, those whose lives were too brief
for us but long enough, perhaps, for thee. Forgive us that they died so
young because we were too unimaginative, too imperious, too
indifferent, or just too late to think of better ways than warfare to
conduct the business of the world. Gratefully, we remember the generosity
that prompted them to share the last of their rations, the last pair of
dry socks, to share in the course of one hour in the foxhole more than
most of us care to share with one another in a lifetime. And we recall
the courage that made more than one of them fall on the grenade there
was no time to throw back.
Grant, O God, that they may
not have died in vain. May we draw new vigor from past tragedy.
Buttress our instincts for peace, sorely beleaguered. Save us from
justifications invented to make us look noble, grand and righteous and
from blanket solutions to messy, detailed problems. Give us the vision
to see that those nations that gave the most to their generals and
least to their poor were, throughout all history, the first to fall.
Most of all, give us the vision to see that the world is now too
dangerous for anything but truth, too small for anything but love.
Through Jesus Christ our Savior, who became what we are to make us what
he is. Amen.
PRAYER OF REMEMBRANCE
Almighty God, our
heavenly Mother and Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead;
we give thanks for all who have laid down their lives in the service of
their country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence.
Grateful in heart thy people
turn to thee, O God of all humankind. Give us wisdom and strength to
save our land from greed and corruption; from pride and presumption;
from tyrants and misrule. Deliver us from war and the menace of war.
Give to our leaders wisdom and to our people patience, that together
they may achieve a better law, a purer life, a more abundant
opportunity for all. Grant unto our land to be numbered among he
peacemakers and become a hope to the oppressed. Give her the desire to
promote honor and humanity throughout the earth, that in liberty and
self-restraint, in charity and gentleness, she may be worthy of her
origin and of thy favor.
O Thou in whose hands are the
hearts of thy creatures; shed abroad thy peace upon the world. By the
might of thy Holy Spirit quench the pride, quell the anger, and cast
out the greed which cause person to strive against person, and tribe
against tribe, and nation against nation. Lead all nations in the ways
of mutual help and good will and hasten the time when no evil deeds
shall defile thy glorious creation; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Peace to one and all,
The Rev. Nancy S. Taylor
Senior Minister
Old South Church in Boston
Boylston & Dartmouth Streets at the Copley T
(617) 425-5150
nst@oldsouth.org
www.oldsouth.org
Old
South
Church
645
Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116
(617)536-1970
Tel (617)536-8061 Fax
You
can E-mail us by clicking here: OSC Communications
Copyright
© 2008, Old South
Church
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