242 - A Prayer for Peace

December 18, 2001

The violence in Israel surges every few days it seems. In the United States, we are infants when it comes to the experience of terror. In Israel, it is the way it has always been. I saw an extraordinary documentary called Promises last week on public television. Created by Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg, and Carlos Bolado, it introduces seven Israeli and Palestinian youngsters, living within minutes of each other yet separated by centuries of distrust. What affected me as I watched is that it was difficult to tell them apart.

Two Hundred Forty-Two

A Prayer for Peace

Divine Source of serenity, search with us for peace;
Your city Jerusalem weeps. Quiet eludes its walls,
The cries echo through the centuries.
The people grieve as they have for many yesterdays.

You command: Make peace where there is strife.
You counsel: Choose life that we may live.
You declare: I am the Eternal, the One:
All are Your people, who could find peace.

Turn the hearts of our enemies to peace,
Ceding Israel's place and safety;
Impress upon us that survival's necessity is peace,
The only lasting victory, Your precious imperative.

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