Tomorrow is Veterans Day,
today marks the hundredth anniversary
of the end of World War I.
Today we offer a prayer
for all of the veterans
and soldiers of the world,
for all of the wounded warriors,
for all who fought for a cause they believed in,
and did not come home,
for all those who did not come home whole,
for all those who felt that after their service,
their country abandoned them.
Today we offer a prayer
for all of those who have been wounded by war
or killed in it,
combatant,
civilian,
aggressor
or victim,
each was a member of the great family of all souls,
the loss of each was a loss to the human community,
an infinite universe
of imagination,
a capacity for joy
or sorrow,
a human creature
who could love or hope or cry or mourn
snuffed out.
Today we offer a prayer
in the hopes
that someday
human violence will cease,
that peace will come,
that wars will be fought no more,
that swords will be beaten into plough shares.
And today,
even as we remember veterans,
we also remember all of those who have been
brave enough to say no to war,
to hold a larger vision of peace,
however foolish,
the peace activists,
the doctors without borders,
the draft dodgers,
the pacifists,
the lovers of universal humanity,
they deserve honor
as much as soldiers.
Until we learn to honor
veterans and peace makers
alike
there will never be peace
for as we have often been told
there is no way to peace
peace is the way.
As we hear these words,
let also hold in our hearts
the victims of the fires
in California and this week’s victims of gun violence
in Thousand Oaks, California,
their names include: Cody Coffman, Ian David Long, Justin Meek, Sean Adler, Blake Dingman, Noel Sparks, Daniel Manrique, Jake Dunham, Telemachus Orfanos, Kristina Morisette, and Mark Meza.
May someday we live in a world where the reading of the names of the victims of gun violence become unnecessary.
May someday we live in a world where the destructive fires of climate change no longer rage.
May someday we live in world where peace, love, and justice reign
and there is no more war, or hatred, or violence.
Amen and Blessed Be.
