Daily Prayer for Peace
1:00 p.m.
Gabon
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Call to Prayer
Lighting of Candle
Invitation
Today we will remember the people of Gabon in our prayers. Located in western Africa, Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions. A small population, abundant natural resources, and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous black African countries. More than three-quarters of the country is forested. The World Wildlife Fund assists in managing two tropical reserves and earmarking areas for future protection. Gabon is particularly noted for its woodcarvings and masks. The Gabonese art of mask making has been lost and the only place you can see them today is in the museum.
God's spirit of peace molds us, heals us, and uses us in service to others. The ministry of reconciliation, manifest in Christ Jesus, is the promise of that spirit. Let us worship in peace.
Let the company of nations gather around you, and rule over them from on high.
Put an end to the violence all around me!
Make the just feel secure, O God of justice, you who test mind and heart!
You are my shield, God Most High, who saves the upright of heart.
Prayer for Peace by Laurie Gordon, Livermore, California
In this still moment and in this sacred place we gather to recognize You as the Source of Being and the Bringer of Peace. You are the One whose Presence fills the empty places in the heart of every child, woman, and man; and You are the One who is the Light in our innermost beings. We come to pray for peace, to open our hearts to your Spirit of Peace and to offer our lives in bringing Your Peace into the world.
This peace for which we pray is a peace that may be born in our hearts in still moments such as this one when we are aware of You. This peace we seek is a peace that feeds and is fed by the unfolding of compassion within, a peace that spills over into our relationships with our loved ones and is extended into a troubled world. We want to offer our hearts to the earth and to the world.
The Spirit of Peace enters the world through us when our hearts know You. We know this kind of peacemaking is no easy task, yet we want to participate with you in this new Creation. As instruments of Your Peace may we transform, by Your Spirit, violence, ugliness and sorrow into peace, beauty and joy. May the Spirit of Peace in the temple of our hearts be free to spiral out into the world.
In remembrance of the Christ, Amen.
Hymn - To Live at Peace with Others - Sing for Peace #17
Please join us now, praying the Prayers of the People. During the moments of silence, you are invited to pray silently or meditate.
Go together now in peace to become the peacemakers and peacekeepers we are called to be.