Prayer upon the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks
Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Heaven and earth are full of your glory!
Hosanna! Lord, save!
Today, Lord, we remember the events of fifteen years ago:
The shock
of four passenger jets turned into weapons
of four passenger jets turned into weapons
The horror
of the Twin Towers crumbling in dust and ashes
of the Twin Towers crumbling in dust and ashes
We remember our pride
As men and women in blue,
firefighters, and other first responders rushed into danger and death with no
hesitation
firefighters, and other first responders rushed into danger and death with no
hesitation
As men and women in uniform emerged
from the Pentagon rubble
from the Pentagon rubble
As a bunch of normal citizens took
down their own jet in order to preserve lives and stand against terror
down their own jet in order to preserve lives and stand against terror
As the nations of the world mourned
with us
with us
We remember the sense of oneness we felt as a nation
Our President reminding us of the
value of diversity in our democracy,
value of diversity in our democracy,
Reminding us that our
military response was not a crusade against Islam.
military response was not a crusade against Islam.
No matter whether we were Christian
or Muslim, liberal or conservative
or Muslim, liberal or conservative
We
were one nation under God
were one nation under God
We remember the years since:
Wars and occupations of Afghanistan
and Iraq
and Iraq
The capture and death of Osama bin
Laden
Laden
And, when we hoped that peace might
be around the corner,
be around the corner,
Terror
and violence took a new face
and violence took a new face
Here at home, the spotlight shines on the things that divide
us as people and as a nation:
us as people and as a nation:
We have learned to fear Arabs and
Islam
Islam
We talk about the 1% and the 99%
We find it tragically necessary to
remind ourselves that black lives matter, that gay lives matter, that blue
lives matter
remind ourselves that black lives matter, that gay lives matter, that blue
lives matter
And the Klan makes attempts to
recruit in our own community
recruit in our own community
We are reminded of the uncomfortable truth that, though all
are created equal, we are not all equal in opportunity, access, legal
protections, or hope.
are created equal, we are not all equal in opportunity, access, legal
protections, or hope.
Forgive us for our fear of those who are different from us.
Forgive us for slapping labels on people who, like us, are
made in your image.
made in your image.
Forgive us for settling for a world in conflict when you
have called us to be peacemakers.
have called us to be peacemakers.
Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Heaven and earth are full of your glory!
Come, Lord
Jesus and be
Jesus and be
The Prince
of Peace,
of Peace,
Healer of our
brokenness,
brokenness,
And Hope of
the world.
the world.
Hosanna! Lord, save!