Week of Sabbath II, Day Three

Prayer of hope:

God of all grace,
I pray this day for a world free from hunger. I pray for a world free from violence. I pray for a world in which each child is healthy, happy, and loved. I pray for justice to take hold of our leaders, and for peace to take root in our cities and towns. I pray for your will to be done, for all the people of the world. Amen.

Reading:

What actions are
most excellent?

To gladden the heart of a human being.
To feed the hungry.
To help the afflicted.
To lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful.
To remove the wrongs of the injured.
That person is the most beloved of God
who does most good to God’s creatures.
--The Prophet Muhammed

Meditation:

There is a war brewing across our planet. It is not a war of guns and rockets. It is a war of the heart. In the hearts of people all over the world is a smoldering anger which turns easily to prejudice and hate, ignited by violence and bloodshed, which we watch from our living rooms on television.

This war is a fight for the soul of Islam, and it is being fought by Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. Islam is under attack, from without and within. From without are those who declare that Muslims are an angry and violent people. From within are those who know that the heart of Islam is in the words of the Prophet above, and in the very name “Islam.” It means “peace.” It comes from the Arabic, “Salaam,” which sounds like its Hebrew cognate “Shalom” and has been a form of address for Semitic people for centuries. They greet one another with a word of peace.

The Prophet Muhammed spoke readily of justice for all people, and of the imperative of peace. His people have lived in peace for centuries, with one another, and with their Christian and Jewish neighbors. But that peace is threatened by extremism of two kinds: Muslim extremism, which hates the neighbor; and the extremism of those who fail to see the Muslim as neighbor. Both are equally dangerous, and we pray for an end to the bloodshed each has wrought.

Prayer for Peace:

God of all,
Rain down peace upon your peoples. Gather us together, one human family in many expressions. Teach us the ways of justice, that we might follow in the footsteps of Abraham, of Jesus, and of Muhammed. I pray for an end to war, and a return to peace. Amen