Praying for Peace for One's Friends

Prayer For Peace



I read the Lectionary passage for the day:

“...he will speak peace to his people.”

And I turned from that verse to that

  penciled dog-eared list I keep in the back

  of my Bible.

I unfolded that roll of names and people

  from all over.

Family, friends—colleagues...

  brave soldiers in every kind of war.

Cancer. Alzheimer’s. Church fights.

  The dreaded ALS.

Some simply waiting for the other

  shoe to drop.

Desperate, courageous, frightened—

  amazingly faith-filled.

Down beside every name and

  every varying condition

I whisper one word, “Peace.”

Once upon a time our Lord whispered

  that tiny word to half-believers

  on a stormy sea.

Is it too much to believe, after all these

  years—

Down beside these familiar names

  of heartbreak and courage—

They too might find their waves

  stilled—

And their hearts calmed as that sea

  so long ago.

   --Roger Lovette

      Ascension of our Lord, 2012

(The moving statue above stands at a crossroads in downtown Birmingham. Brother Bryan, years ago loved this city and poured everything he had into its well being. After his death the city commissioned this statue which stands among the bars, restaurants homeless and business folk that pass that way.)