On Sunday morning, Aug. 5, in a small town in Wisconsin six Sikhs
worshipers were gunned down in their Gurdwara, place of worship, by a
racist who then killed himself. On Sunday afternoon, the Sikh community
issued a newsletter calling on the interfaith community to show
solidarity with them by holding prayer vigils in our own places of
worship. I do not know if my church will hold a prayer vigil. So I will
pray my prayer and stand in silent worship in my home. -- Doris
Abdullah, Church of the Brethren representative to the United Nations
and chair of the Human Rights Sub-Committee for the Elimination of
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance
“And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
went into a ship, and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore”
(Matthew 13:2).
Prayer
O Lord, you are in the boat, and we are standing on the shore. Have
mercy on us, our failure to respond to the violent hatred that darts
across our land against those who worship differently, or who are not
perceived to be of pure European origins, or who are poor and
uneducated.
If only we could drown all the hate in the waters of love that you
offer to the people. Let us not go on watching you, Lord Jesus, from the
shoreline. Let us abandon our fears and swim out to thank you for a
life everlasting. Swim out and thank you for the oldest of those killed,
84 years of age. Thank you for the brave policeman who had been shot
eight times but waved away help for himself so other injured could be
helped. And thank you for all the lives that were saved from the gunman
on Sunday morning.
Thank you for another day to show that in solidarity prayer, good
fruits without the blemish of hate can come forth. Lord have mercy on us
as we pray. Amen
Source:8/9/2012 Newsline
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