Daily Prayer for Peace
1:00 p.m.
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Senegal
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Gathering in Silence
Call to Prayer
Lighting of CandleInvitation |
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We greet you in the name of God
who calls us to peace. Welcome today to this sacred place. Each day in
this Temple, we pray to God for peace in our world. In addition, each
day we pray for a different country.
Today we will remember the people of Senegal in our prayers. Located in
western Africa, Senegal ended three centuries of French administration
in 1960. Senegal was one of the first multiparty democracies in today's
Africa. It has a long history of participating in international
peacekeeping. The moderate socialist government has initiated economic
reforms. A deep natural harbor at Dakar makes the cosmopolitan city a
major West African port. Peanuts from the drought-prone interior are an
important export.
On this second week of Advent, we celebrate Hope. As we worship
together, let us share Jesus’ message of hope and restoration for
creation. |
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| Scripture Reading: James 3:13, 17-18 INT |
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If there are any wise and learned among
you, let them show it by good living—with humility, and with wisdom in
their actions. The wisdom from above… has purity as its essence. It
works for peace; it’s kind and considerate. It’s full of compassion and
shows itself by doing good. Nor is there any trace of partiality or
hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds
which will bear fruit in holiness. |
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Prayer for Peace by Laurie Gordon, Livermore,
California |
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Holy and Eternal God,
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 vast and empty reaches of space; and You are the One
who is the Light of the Universe. We come to offer our lives in bringing
Peace into the world.
This peace 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 do not expect Your Peace to be easy, merely an absence of conflict,
but rather an intense participation in life that fiercely embraces the
reality of difficulty and harshness as well as delight and joy. We would
participate in life in a new way, a transforming way.
We recognize also that our hearts are hard, resistant to Your Spirit,
often rigid and unyielding. And yet You ask us to let our hearts be
broken. So we open before You and ask... soften the rigid places in our
hearts that we might embrace life with an intensity that is at once
gentle and strong; that we may give ourselves more intently to the
children and lonely ones, to our families and to those without family;
that we might care for this earth and all creatures upon it. Then we
will learn something about softening and opening the heart of the world
to Your Peace.
As instruments of Your Peace may we transform, by Your Spirit, violence
and sorrow into peace 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 we pray. Amen. |
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Hymn - I Heard the Bells on Christmas
Day -
Hymns of the Saints #250 |
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Prayers of the People
Please join us now, praying the Prayers of the People. During the
moments of silence, you are invited to pray silently or meditate. |
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We praise you, God, for expanding our knowledge of you
through your teachings: Blest are the sorrowful; they shall find
consolation. And blest are those of a gentle spirit; they shall have the
earth for their possession. How blest are those who hunger and thirst to
see right prevail for they shall be satisfied. Help us to have this
hunger, O God. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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Blest are those who show mercy; mercy shall be shown to them. How blest
are those whose hearts are pure; they shall see God. How blest are the
peacemakers; God shall call them his children. Help us to be merciful
and be peacemakers, we pray. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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We pray for courage to be your presence in actions of justice,
tenderness, and love. We ask for divine forgiveness when we have not
been compassionate or loving or just. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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Hear us, O God, as we pray for all who are victims of abuse, neglect,
hatred, and war. May your light fill all the world. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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God of all nations, we pray that the light of peace will heal the wounds
of the earth. We hold to your light of love and healing the children,
youth, and adults of Senegal. Give them strength as they work to build
their nation into one where peace and justice for all are known. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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Please use this space to pray for any
current concern or event in our community, city, state, nation or world
that you feel needs to be held up to God for prayerful consideration.
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| The People Pray in Silence |
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We thank you God that in the midst of incredible difficulties many
people are sustained by courage and determination. Fill us with that
spirit of love and courage, we humbly pray as we become peacemakers.
Amen |
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| Sending Forth |
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We conclude our service today with ministry of music. We
invite you to remain in the quiet of this place to pray or meditate for
as long as you may wish.
Go now with God’s own peace. |
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| Ministry of Music |
