Litany of Healing and Hope for September 11, 2011

Leader: When memories of terror reawaken the past, and experiences of death, loss, and grief, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When anger and inflamed passion tempt us to respond with violence and seek revenge, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When we are enticed to give in to the illusion that war alone will resolve conflict between enemies, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When it feels like every menace, whether imagined or real, is a threat to our security, and fills us with fear, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When religion is used as an excuse to exclude, threaten, or destroy others, forgetting or ignoring all that unites us, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When we become stuck in the past, unable to respond to the challenges we face with vision and hope, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When we wrestle with how to create a better future for our children, even to the seventh generation, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

Leader: When we struggle to find a new and peaceful way to live in the world, and forget that you, O God, are our help and salvation, then ...

People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.

All: O God of all peoples, nations and creeds: you have created us and rejoiced in the goodness of creation, and have wept with us when have experienced death, loss and grief.
Send your healing presence into the world and endow all people, leaders, groups and nations with your vision of unity and peace; so that we and all people may move on from the wounds of the past and seek to live in harmony with one another; to the end that the goodness of your creation may be restored, enhanced and sustained for the common good of all.
Through mercies of your love and grace, and in your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world. Amen!

This Litany of Healing and Hope for September 11, 2011, was written at the request of Pastor Catherine J. Sprigg, for use at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Derry, NH. Copyright 2011 the Rev. Richard Garland. Used with permission.

See hymns and songs by Richard Garland on the Discipleship Ministries website.