Sept. 11: ‘Strength to be peacemakers’
AP Photo: 
President Bush, on stage, center, and others, bow their heads during the invocation at a Pentagon Memorial, today on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Pentagon.
“We ask for the strength to be peacemakers.”
That sentence stands out in my mind today as I read Michael Kinnamon’s prayer of remembrance for the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Kinnamon, general secretary for the New York-based National Council of Churches, is right on with that statement because it does take strength to make peace in today’s world.
If you are interested, here’s Kinnamon’s entire prayer, sent out via e-mail:
“Gracious God of all creation,
On this day, we remember our neighbors, of different nations and backgrounds, who died in the attacks we simply call 9-11.
Hear our prayers for their loved ones. May they know the comfort that comes from knowledge and love of you.
May they be surrounded by communities that care for them, even as you continue to care for this fragile and suffering world.
God, we confess that we cannot make sense of the violence inflicted by your children on one another. But even more than understanding, we ask for the strength to be peacemakers, servants of your will for reconciliation.
It has been seven years since the senseless attacks, but we are still in pain. Give us the courage, God, to work for the day when hatred and violence will cease.
Help us to be those who break cycles of retribution, even as we advocate for justice with bold persistence.
Help us to work for that time, envisioned by the prophet, when no infant dies needlessly, when no one labors in vain or bears children for calamity, when even wolf and lamb feed together and no one hurts or destroys your holy creation.
God, be our strength, and may we feel your loving touch today and always.
Amen.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
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