Song for Sunday: Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace.

The beautiful prayer of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.


It's a translation, so some versions are a bit different. 


On this fifteenth anniversary of a national tragedy -- an attack on the nation-- how can we promote peace? How can we be channels of God's love and mercy?


The prayer offers thoughts on this for big national situations, small personal ones, and all in between.
Let us make it our prayer.

Here's a version to help focus prayer.

Blessings on your remembrances and your prayers.

Anniversary of 9/11

It's been 12 years since 9/11/2001.

People remember. I am seeing a lot of "where I was" posts on Facebook. I know people who paused to pray.

For some people, life became very different after 9/11 than it was before. Those who lost a loved one had their lives changed immediately. Those who went to war, or had a family member who did, also experienced change and loss.

I think, too, of the now 11 and 12 year olds who were born into grieving families because their fathers died in the attacks before they were born. They have never known a lack of mourning.

Some people changed their outlook because of 9/11.

Many people, though, go about their day to day lives as though the attacks never happened. Only when they have to wait in long airport security lines or hear a public announcement of an anniversary do they recall the events of that infamous day.

I do not know whether this is a good or bad thing. Perhaps it shows the resiliency of the American people and the human spirit. On the other hand perhaps it shows peoples' ability to shut out unpleasant things and act as though everything is fine.

I wrote a post titled "We are at War and Life Goes on as Usual" with some reflections on that.

I don't know the conclusion of all this. I struggle with how to respond to war and old attacks. I do know it is good to remember and to work for peace, even if I don't know how. Prayer is the place to begin, I guess, as always.

Remembering -- the attacks on the World Trade center, the Pentagon, Flight 93 and on 9/11/2012, American envoys in Benghazi.

God grant us peace.

Christians, Muslims, 9/11

It's the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93. The attacks on America.


I am taking a class on Muslim beliefs that is designed for Christians, to promote understanding. I discovered that there are still mainstream people (there will always be people on the fringes) who believe that all Muslims supported those attacks, that Muslims are more militant than Christians, that Muslims want to take over the U.S.


Nothing could be further from the truth.

I didn't think it needed to be said anymore, but most Muslims think that Al Qeada and the Taliban are crazy. Just as most Christians think that extremists who promote violence in the name of Jesus are crazy.


I think of:

The Muslim girls who disappeared from the school I was teaching in back in 2001. The boys didn't wear anything special so they blended in and stayed. The girls, with their headscarves, were recognizable and their parents feared for their safety and kept them home. I prayed for a way to reach out to those girls. 

God answered that prayer by sending me Morsal. She was a tiny girl with Down Syndrome who lived across the street from the school. Her parents didn't realize that she could attend school in America, but we found her and her parents soon enrolled her in my Life Skills class. She was very excited to learn and her parents were pleased to give her the opportunity. 

Being new to the country, Morsal did not speak English. As the Muslim girls returned to school, I sought help from some from her country. They came to translate and help her learn about lockers and lunch time. I got to interact with them and learn of their hopes and fears. Morsal also gave them a way to reach out and helped them, and all of us, heal. 

I also think of:

The Muslim Mom in our homeschool group. She homeschools so her kids will have a better education, so that she can spend more time with them, and so that she can share her faith and values more easily. Basically, for the same reasons I homeschool. Her kids are bright and friendly and have a variety of interests.

One time my son and her son were bouncing on a trampoline. They got to arguing about who Jesus is. Eventually, they decided they would stick to their own religions and be friends. Perhaps an idea for all of us to consider?

Not that we shouldn't evangelize. We are supposed to share the gospel. Both Christianity and Islam are outreaching religions.  In America, that's allowed -- thanks be to God.

But we can live in peace with our neighbors, love our neighbors, whether we agree or not.

What do you think?

Let's Roll!

"Are you guys ready?

Okay. Let's roll!"

                                ~Todd Beamer

Who were the heros of 9/11?

The ones who took action. The ones who did what they had to do. Or what they could do.

The firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers who went in while others were coming out -- and kept working long hours for days on end while mourning their friends.

The school teachers who walked kids to safety.

The chaplains, counselors and volunteers who went to help.

The neighbors who opened their doors.

The passengers on Flight 93 who stood up to their attackers so that, although they died, the plane didn 't reach it's target and no one on the ground was hurt.

Yes, the ones who did something. Whatever they could in their own set of circumstances.

Some we have heard of, some we honor. Others remain in obscurity, forgotten or never known.

We owe them all a debt.

We should follow their example.

They are the heroes.



What can you do? What will you do?

We are at war... and life goes on as usual...

I remember seeing a M*A*S*H* episode in which scenes of the doctors operating on badly injured soldiers were alternated with scenes of people partying and jitterbugging back home. It created a powerful message. We were in the midst of Desert Storm at the time, and I was struck by how apropos the episode was to that day.

It's the same now. We have soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan but how many of us, who don't have loved ones deployed, think of them? Do we remember to pray for them, to connect with them, to support their families? Do we think of strangers who have been widowed or orphaned because of this war?

I am sure some people do. There are probably ministries set up to help these folks and some people participate. But I know I haven't done enough. I know that usually I go about my work and play as though there is no war. Even when I travel, the inconveniences at airports aren't that noticeable. They were much more stringent in London and Germany, especially when I flew El Al. I expect it is the same for most people, especially as the war stretches on.

I am not sure exactly what kind of change I am looking for here. It's hard to put it into specific terms. I do have a few ideas:

*All over the country, there are young parents going it alone while their spouse is deployed. They need a lot of things. Babysitters, someone to cut the grass, company, a break. If there is one in your neighborhood, take them a meal even if it looks like they have everything under control. Single parenting is hard. 


*Visit Veteran's in hospitals. I know the VA hospital near me is fairly dreary. It doesn't really matter if the vets are from the current war or not. But regular visits -- weekly, monthly -- that the patients can look forward to are better than showing up once for a holiday (though that isn't a bad thing either).

*Volunteer for one of those ministries I mentioned above.

*Pray regularly for the safety of our military members and a return to peace. I know many churches will mention the war or the military in weekly prayers or at least on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. I am thinking more of a consistent prayer meeting just for this purpose. I might  start a Facebook group to encourage this kind of prayer. I just thought of this as I was writing.

*Think of something else and do it. (Maybe mention it in a comment below.)

These are just ideas. My thinking is that we should be more mindful, more aware. You never know what will help. On the fourth of July one year, Jordan decided to enter the children's bike parade. He made a tan and painted it in camouflage colors, wore camouflage clothes and painted his face that way, too. He didn't win, stuffed decked out in red, white and blue did. (Well, and they were probably better done, anyway.) But an older veteran approached me and told me he was grateful to see it. "People need to be reminded of what the soldiers are going through over there." I doubt that's what Jordan had in mind. He just thought tans and camouflage were cool. But I was touched by the vet's response. And it's true that we need these reminders, even though there's now way we can fully understand "what they are going through."

So those are my thoughts as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11. What are yours?

Oh, just one more thing:

To our veterans, military members and their families:

THANK YOU FOR 

SERVING!!!