And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. — Isaiah 2:4

Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, “This is the word of the Lord unto
Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ saith the Lord of
hosts.” — Zechariah 4:6

At a time when war and rumors of war abound, we have seen in the past nine days an
escalation of the use of weapons of mass destruction, strikes and counterstrikes
leading the world into a dangerous precipice. We call on all in the communion to
pray and act for the cessation of war in the Middle East and for all parties to enter into
dialogue to resolve conflict.

God of life, to whom every life is sacred, and who bleeds for every life that is lost,
we call for your peace to be bestowed on all of your creation,
so that nation will not rise up in war against nation,
so that people will not learn hatred,
so that children may have a future.

We pray that we may learn the ways of peace and not of power,
that we may walk the paths of justice and not violence,
that we will see your face in the face of the other,
recognizing each other as humans bound together in one common life,
connected by the Earth on which we walk, the air we breathe, and the blood that
flows through our veins.

Enough of this blood has been spilled.
Give us the courage to say: no more.
Give us the daring to resist war.
Give us the hope to be able to turn to a better tomorrow.

Amen.