Prayer
The Rev. Olivia Holmes
Director of International Relations
Unitarian Universalist Association
O God of weak and strong
Great life-giving force that guides all being
I despair for my country in this woe-filled war
I despair for those with power to torture the human body and spirit
Who use that power without remorse
Who use that power, even with remorse
Who use that power to avenge their own fear
Who use that power as a simple tool of war
Who use that power
I despair for those who excuse this practice in the name of war
I despair for those who have lost the path of justice in fear and trembling
And Great Spirit, I despair most deeply
for those men and women forced by torture
to live unbearable lives day upon excruciating day
and for those men and women relieved only by death
from such unspeakable cruelty.
Spirit of Life, I am angry.
My ears have heard of deprivation, isolation, starvation
My eyes have seen glossy witness to sexual humiliation,
Brutal intimidation
And I know I have not heard or seen it all.
Today I heard what happens at Abu Ghraib
Happens at Baghdad, Basrah, Tikrit, Kabul
Happens at Guantanamo Bay
Happens, too, in prisons and jails from Maine
To Hawaii, Alaska to Florida
Brothers and sisters wherever you are, you do not suffer alone
The world is finally watching
We will find ways to stand by your side, however far apart
We will find our voices and shout for all the mountains to hear,
“This inhumanity must end.”
We will join our hands and hearts and build a tent of peace
So vast that all must come inside.
Great God, my voice is but one small voice
Yet joined with another, and another, and yet another
We will be heard.
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