A Blessing for Memorial Day

The Celtic cross emphasizes our inter-connectedness --
with all of creation, with each other,
and with God. We are One.

A blessing asks for favor and protection. It connects us with each other and with all of creation.

The language of blessing is an invocation – a "calling forth."

In the Memorial Day blessing below you will see the word “may" appear many times; it is a very powerful word -- an invocating hope and possibility… "May there be…" "may this happen…" "may we..."

A blessing both imagines and wills a desired future or state of being – there is a transforming force behind it. And this transforming force is God’s subtle presence and divine energy given for us -- there for our asking.  

A BLESSING FOR MEMORIAL DAY

·

       On this day, may the Holy One help us to turn our swords into plowshares; to know war no more.

·       May we come to understand the true, multi-generational cost of war and its killing.

·       Yet may we always remember and honor our brothers and sisters who selflessly served and those whose lives have been sacrificed in what they believed to be honorable and true.

·       May the founding beliefs that have made our nation strong, just and honorable be evident in our collective life together.

·       May we as a nation and as a people be slow to anger, quick to forgive, and merciful in our actions.

·       May we who come together today be strengthened in our peacemaking and be a blessing and inspiration to those of us who seek to become makers of peace.

[The above blessing was the invocation I made for the assembly of the Madison (Wisc.) area chapter and friends of Veterans for Peace (VFP), Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 in the Gates of Heaven Chapel in James Madison Park]