As I woke up yesterday morning to celebrate my son turning 10, my thoughts immediately turned to the children in Iran, Palestine, and Israel. My 13 year old came out of her bedroom, having seen the headlines, and asked me if we are going to die because the U.S. bombed Iran.
In wars far from home, how easy it is to forget that there are families celebrating the birthdays of their children and parents being asked to provide security that they can no longer guarantee. We are quick to forget that - no matter their country of origin, faith, or language - these too are God’s beloved. Each of our siblings in Iran also contain a universe of hopes and fears and dreams as unique and complex as our own.
In this time of war and increasing violence, I cling to Jesus, who blessed the peacemakers. I look to the peacemakers and prophets of other faiths knowing that in God, Allah, HaShem, whatever name we use for the divine creator, we are made for peace and love.
God of peace, draw near to the frightened, the grieving, the displaced. Embrace the souls of the lives already taken far too soon by the weapons of war. Teach us to see one another through Your eyes, to honor the sacred in every soul. Let our hearts not grow numb to suffering simply because it is not our own. May we speak peace, pray peace, and make peace—in our homes, in our words, in our world.
Amen.