Not just another morning prayer...

I woke up early today realizing that my volunteering to pray at 8 AM class was now a new responsibility. This is what I wrote. This is how I feel.

God,

We praise you this morning for another day; we praise you for the sunlight through the weekend. For the blossoms on the trees and tulips of many colors greeting us on our walks. Thank you for the peace from such a great weekend and all that we were able to accomplish or not with such a great distraction

We come to you today in a frenzy of emotions… While finals were trumped by live news, while readings were replaced with presidential addresses and facebook was replacing normative Sunday night statuses, with words leaning from righteous victory to sobering anguish. Help us realize your will in these situations.

As David mourned for Saul his friend, enemy, and family, let us mourn for Bin Laden, help us realize that this death is not redemptive, and that those who fell at his hands cannot be brought back with the death of one or 1000, help us to realize that redemption lives in love, love of a God sending his one and only son for our sins. Help us to remember a man that said father forgive them for they know not what they do, and help us to say mother forgive them, even if they know what they do.

We ask you to be with those who suffer, those who feel like 10 years ago was still only ten seconds ago. Give joy to the saddened, peace to the angry, perspective to the perplexed, and comfort to the weary.

Help us remember that at a time like this, we did not solve the problem of war, injustice, hunger, poverty, extremism, or even terrorism. Help us remember while we killed one deliberately, many more have died and will continue to involuntarily pass from this earth from sickness, hunger, and lack of shelter. Also help us remember that many still struggle under oppressive rule and the threat of violence and persecution.

We hope in the day where love will unite us in a way death did last night, and when we realize the life of Christ day in and day out, creating a kingdom on earth that is a witness to the Gospel. Until then we live in the hope of the Redeemer, and ask the Spirit to sustain us and give us peace in this trying time.

In the name of the risen Christ,

Amen.