by Rev. Connie Gibbs (copyright, 2003)We pause on this Memorial Day, a brief moment in time,
To bring close to our hearts those memories we hold so dear
Of the men and women before us who unselfishly put their dreams, their lives on the line.
Where danger lay as a stalker,
waiting to take away each breath, while the soldier
plowed with determination the furrows of death.
We must remember, we must, you and I,
those special heroes who chose to fly,
to fly the skies of blue that turned as dark as the midnight sky,
Their wings began to shudder as smoke choked their breath away,
And hope gave way to the resignation, "Today, I'm going to die."
Treading the waters so deep and wide,
Men and women continued on their mission,
For God and country, their hearts would abide.
Surprised by attacks with brutal disregard for human life,
they fought to the end, knowing that life and limb would be lost,
whether of self or friend.
Yes by land, by sea, and in the skies,
they fought for our land,
they fought for freedom so that you and I might stand,
Stand for what is right, for what is good and true,
fight that we might say without fear, "God loves you."
Yes, we must remember, for freedom is not cheap,
or lives and limbs were lost so that we might keep,
All the things that we can have and all the things we can do,
Like cars and boats and a house with a roof,
Like going to church without fear,
and reading the Bible where we find the truth,
The truth of knowing that whether we are red, yellow, black,
or white,
We are all God's children and we need to learn to love one another as God first loved us.
For if there is to be peace on earth,
where all men and women are free,
it must begin with each and all of us,
let it begin with you and me.
Woodland United Methodist Church, Virginia
757-357-7499
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Let us pray:
Jewish Prayer for Peace
Come let us go up the mountain of
the Lord, that we may walk the
paths of the Most High.
And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares,
and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation--
neither shall they learn war any more.
And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the
Lord of Hosts has spoke
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5 comments:
Dear MacDaddy,
Thank you for the rich variety of topics you cover on your blog....It give this Nun in the'Hood an opportunity to spout of some of my most cherished beliefs For instance,a wise person once said that if we delve deeply into any one of the world's great religious traditions, we will discover a piece of the TRUTH. Each of the prayers you have been sharing holds a truth for me and I find that I am enriched by my Baptist,Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu, etc. brothers and sisters. (And to think that we Catholics thought we had an 'edge on the truth!....Now don't go reporting me to the Pope!!!)
Speaking of prayer on this Memorial Day, last evening we took a list of the homicide stats for North Minnepaolis and went to each and every spot where a person had lost his or her life...all within a mile or so radius of our monastery. We wanted to let these families know that their loved ones are no just statistics...They are people with names and stories, however short. Our friend, Mary,
our neighbor whose son was killed on these streets rode along with us. Her life's work, since her son's death, is to bring families of perpetrators and victims together, and to gradually work toward reconcilition and forgiveness. She actually took us to the place where her son was mudered. We all made a circle of prayer with her and left a stalk of wheat, as we did at each stop.
.,...This morning I was awakened at 3:00 am with a volley of gun shots outside my window...So the craziness continues, and we have Fallen Heroes in our very midst. We know the addage that violence begets violence...there must be another way in our neighborhoods...in our world...Let's pray for PEACE and act on it this Memorial Day. Blogging is an effective way to keep the conversation going! I'm going to do it today by inviting neighbors to our barbecue!!!
Nun: Thanks for taking the time to write about what' going on over on the North side. One thing I would like to do on this blog-- and I may need your help-- is highlight who these people are. Right now, they're just a statistic. I want people to know that they had a mother, a father, brothers and sisters; they had hopes and dreams that were all taken away with a gunshot. Having worked in that area, having worked with kids (some gangbangers), I know that most of the kids, or adults for that matter, are just innocent kids playing in the yard or the street or standing on their porches.
Nun: I may need you, your friend Sondra, Councilman Samuels, and others to help me gather the info and write about our neighbors as people, and not just statistics. I'll share the info with the Spokesman, the black weekly, as well. Hold me to it.
both the poem and prayer were beautiful.! Thanks for posting them. And re your sidebar: Barack just LOOKS presidential, doesn't he?!
I love the fact that you have prayers of both Muslim and Jewish faiths.
Kellybelle: He sure does look presidential. I think the rest of America is coming around to that same idea. And I think Michelle will make a great First Lady. Thanks.
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