If only it had been the 'war to end all wars' - instead it became the first act of a two part catastrophe.
Clergy at Washington Cathedral composed this litany to mark this one hundredth anniversary - I think it's worth reflecting on the words - challenging words. This is a piece of liturgy they used in their morning service last week - at AFC we shall, this Sunday, be using something very similar, namely the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation.
Here is the Washington piece:
Presider: One hundred years ago, an assassin’s bullet plunges the nations of the world into violence unlike any the world has ever seen. Self-justification and self-righteousness divides your people; divides your
world into opposing alliances; into enemies and friends. Forgive us!
Cantor: For you, O God, seek to unify your people. Your word goes forth, calling us beyond self-
centeredness and self-certainty into the ways of humility and understanding.
Presider:The war to end all wars enlists 70 million people. 8 and a half million soldiers dead; 20 million
soldiers severely wounded; 7 million civilians will also die; showing us the futility of our ways;
the arrogance of our thoughts. How dare we imagine that by killing the sons and daughters of our
enemies, we become friends! Forgive us!
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us
Cantor: For you, O God, create our hearts in love: hearts to love our neighbors; hearts to love our enemies; hearts to love ourselves. To share in your heart means to seek shalom, not swords: that your loving
kindness may prevail among the community of all your people.
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Presider: From the fields of Flanders to the forests of Verdun to the peninsula of Gallipoli, the dead cry out: life and love interrupted; hope and promise laid waste; war, war, and more war. Forgive us!
Cantor: For you, O God, receive them into your presence. And raise them by your grace to life eternal, where sorrowing and sighing will be no more.
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Presider: Mounted cavalry meets withering machine gun fire; lye burns the skin; mustard gas causes the
afflicted to drown on dry land. Our weapons of death exceed our moral preparation; squandering
the gifts of your grace; careless with your creation, the work of your hands. Forgive us!
Cantor: For your life, loving God, pulses through the universe; creating, redeeming, sustaining life. Your life:
animating our very instinct for life; countering our tendency to choose death; quickening in us our
every impulse to live.
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Presider : Trench rot, shellshock, battle fatigue: the consequences of war; cruel, prolonged, ill-conceived war. Our jealousies, our rivalries, our animosities prove costly. Your vision for us; a peaceable reign; grows
dim. Forgive us!
Cantor : For you, O God, desire shalom. We do not fool you when we cry “peace, peace” when there is no peace. You seek the day when all your people live whole and free; in hope and in safety.
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Presider: A League of Nations arises. Political hope for a peaceful future; nations committed to negotiation, arbitration and disarmament. This nation resists. Forgive us!
Cantor: For you, O God, give counsel to the nations of the earth: courage and political will to risk the way of reconciliation and redemption. Your vision breaks through by your Spirit moving in our midst; your
new heaven; your new earth; your global community made new.
All sing: Holy God, Holy and mighty; Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Presider: Merciful God: You who breaks the bow and shatters the spear: we know what you require of us.
You lead us to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with you. Give us discerning wisdom to
choose the things that make for peace; the capacity to resist evil and support the common good;
that we may never again stray from the ways of peace; neither shall we practice war anymore. Amen.
As the poster we have prepared for display outside our church at this time says: We are grateful for courage and still praying for peace.
All good wishes,
Ian
ps Blog 'holiday' for the next two weeks
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