This Prayer was provided by the One Spirit Learning Alliance (212-931-6840 | [email protected]) on October 9, 2023
“Together with so much of the world, we have watched with horror and heartbreak the explosion of violence and war in Israel and Gaza. This kind of slaughter only makes people feel justified in their hatred of each other and can serve no possible purpose. As witnessed over and over again across the globe, it offers no path forward. It only makes an intractable hatred even more so.
“We grieve for all those who have been killed, we pray for comfort and solace for their loved ones, we pray for healing for those who have been wounded or injured, we pray for shelter for those who have been forced to flee their homes, we pray for the safety and the safe return of those taken hostage. We pray for the wisdom and courage that have so far eluded us to resolve the underlying and ongoing conflicts that explode into violence again and again. We pray for some way to undo the generations of hate and strife that cause people to see others as less than human.
“Most of all we pray for peace and for a restoration of sanity for humankind, for remembrance that hatred never ceases by hatred but only by seeing the divine in one another and within ourselves.”