REMEMBERING
It was the end of the war,
V-E day and then V_J day,
V-J victory over Japan,
wrought be the bombs of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
That Awesome fiery cloud---
a new mode of power in the world,
a new capacity for destruction,
a new means for victory and for defeat,
an offer of security....and savage inhumanity.
Some remember best the relief,
the troops coming home,
the end of fear,
the sober, solemn surrender of the USS Missouri.
And just below that surface,
some recall as well,
the destruction and burning homes,
the scarred children,
the wrecked cities,
the wounding and abiding contamination.
And now years later,
we have learned, so it seems, so little
after all this time,
and still the anxious quest for security,
still the many bombs and missiles,
now more sophisticated, but just as lethal,
still the anxiety for our young at war,
and still a body count of countless bodies,
and destroyed cities,
and wounded children,
and the long procession of fear and hate
and vengeance.
We learn so little so late,
remembering in the nix of pride and anxiety
of hope and some shame.
So teach us to reckon our life differently,
to count our days as gifts of your mercy,
to value our children and all the children,
to settle for less oil, and
less control, and
less force.
Finally, to cast ourselves on your fragile
gift of life.
Undue our anxiety;
undo our arrogance;
make us finally yours,
and not our own,
given over to your goodness
and not to our violent fear.
We pray in the name of Jesus who blessed the peacemakers.
Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann
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