Prayers for peace in the midst of the Israel-Hamas War

Creator of all,
we are waiting for the sky to fall.
We look on in horror at children killed,
homes and schools bombed,
smoking rubble filling the streets.
We mourn with all who have lost loved ones,
all who have fled the fighting,
all who will lie down in fear this night.
Above the sounds of the rockets,
the weeping of the bereaved,
you call us to be lovers,
lovers in a dangerous time.

Suffering Saviour,
we are overwhelmed 
by the violence done to fragile bodies,
who taste only blood,
those who no longer feel the Spirit’s grace,
as they breathe in dust and debris.
Yet still you call us to be lovers,
lovers in a dangerous time.

Spirit of Peace,
We listen in fear
to voices speaking defiance,
and vowing even more violence.
We too want to kick at the darkness,
fight the horror it brings, 
embrace revenge. 
But you call us to be lovers,
lovers in a dangerous time. 

You call us to enter your story,
Life-giver and Pain-bearer,
the story where you embrace suffering and sorrow,
your story that promises peace
only through love,
your story that calls us to bring peace
in the midst of violence. 
We pray for your presence in our midst, 
that we might learn from you how to be lovers,
lovers in a dangerous time.

Amen.

These prayers, based on Bruce Cockburn’s song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time,” were the opening reflection for one of her recent Bible Remixed classes.