By request (thank you!)

This is the text of the prayer I offered at Camden’s
Memorial Day service(s):

O’ God, whose name is love
Whose holiest work is justice
We bow our heads today in memory of those
Who lost their lives in defense of our nation, our people, and our
highest ideals.
May the hearts of the grieving be comforted
May the anxious hearts of those who await the homecomings be soothed
May the hearts of those wounded in body and spirit be healed
and God, humble the hearts of those
who benefit by war and yet sacrifice nothing they value and no one they
love: Humble OUR hearts, O’ God.

Allow those of us who have been excused from military service by our
gender, our social class, our family traditions or our own, plain luck
nonetheless know
and know deeply
that we are not thereby excused from responsibility
For our wars, their causes and their effects.

May we understand that the graves at Arlington hold OUR children, OUR
spouses, OUR friends and kin: That their service and sacrifice asks us
this question: How will YOU serve? What will YOU sacrifice?

They were given the task of fighting for our country.
God, allow us to know that it remains our task to ensure that America is
And will remain
A country worth fighting for.

Amen.