Prayer For The Day

Grant me, Lord, the gift of quiet today, the grace of silence as I reflect again on the horrors of cruelty and brutality, the acts of abhorrent violence demonstrated yesterday in the attempted assassination of a political figure in our country. Why, Lord, can we not agree or disagree with human civility? What is the source of our hate that drives us beyond conversation or dialogue or negotiation to guns and violence? Is there a way back to human understanding, to graciousness, to compassion? Only in the truth of the message of Jesus do I find that possibility. Only in His Way, His values, His demonstrated life do I find hope for our troubled time. Help us, Lord God, to have the courage to meet each other on that path and to walk side by side into a better time of understanding and common efforts toward peace, both at home and around this world. In the spirit of the one who said: “I am the way…” do I make this prayer. Amen.