I mentioned my involvement in Peace Studies elsewhere on Facebook. On coming downstairs to the I-MAC I had this prayer lying around. It is dated 2/20/2004 - JRT: I had to post it in parts on Facebook because of character limitation. I list it here in it's complete form. The "child" I remember killed in battle was a high school classmate who went into the military just after graduation and was killed very soon after deployment. (In those days we were "children" until we reached 21 years of age.) Two other young men, Rocky Mountain College graduates, were killed in Vietnam shortly after their graduation. The news in Montana this Spring and Summer is to often about the death of a young person killed in a traffic accident. And today's news (7/23/09) tells of the location of the counseling records of a young man who killed and injured numerous students at Va. Tech, and the recent drive-by shooting at a Texas University.
"God, our Father, we are comforted by the words in Holy Scripture that you love us and that you will be with us in all the trials, all the fears, all the joys that life may bring. We are your children. But in the great scheme of things we, too, are parents. Our children also face trials and we suffer on their behalf. Some of us remember friends who were killed in battle at the time we ourselves were children. And we know of those who are injured or killed even as we kneel in prayer this day. O Father, God, Still our warring natures and give us peace this day. We ask this in the name of the Christ. Amen.
The Institute for Peace Studies will sponsor a "Peace Camp" mid-August for pre-teens to help them deal with frustration without resorting to violence. This has been a very successful program for the past 4-5 years.
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