Lord, why must there be war?
Do we just like to fight?
Like children in a schoolyard, do we feel the need to punch and kick each other into submission just because we’re frustrated and can do nothing else?
Or are we led to conflict by our leaders for political reasons, over territory, for power or to assure a steady flow of oil? Or are there more glorious reasons: the freedom of oppressed people suffering under the yoke of dictatorships? Are we fighting for them, Lord, or are we fighting for us, to show off our mettle and assert our strength, just because we can?
Since the beginnings of this nation, Lord, we have thrown ourselves into combat. In doing so, we have sacrificed so much. We have brought generations of young men and, now, women, home in body bags. We have condemned countless others to lives in wheelchairs or worse. We have broken the hearts of their loved ones. Spouses must learn to cope without their partners, children without one or the other of their parents, parents without their children.
And what of those who now face the daily grind of war, Lord? The combatants who must live daily, not only in fear of their own death but with the knowledge they may have to take the lives of others to survive. And there is terror at home, as deaths in battle are reported almost as an afterthought on the evening news.
Lord, as the Cross testifies, you are no stranger to suffering.
We ask you for peace.
We pray the conflicts will stop and that you will bring our troops home unscathed and whole of heart.
Until then, Lord, on this Memorial Day, please bless and hold close those who serve and those who have lost friends and loved ones in any of our armed conflicts. Please include those from law enforcement and the fire service, as well. We owe so very much to our heroes, both living and fallen. Please keep them in our hearts always.
In the name of Jesus, who sacrificed for us all, Amen.
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