[ALBSA-Info] Dorchester Heights Prayer

[albboschurch at juno.com]

A Prayer on Dorchester Heights
Candlelight Ceremony of the People of South Boston
September 30, 2001

[ It's a windy evening as we hold slender candles of hope and light. It
reminds of a Chinese saying that: "When the wind blows out a candle, it
means your prayer has been heard." ]

God, our heavenly Father, Who cares about our earth and suffers with all
its people: Your creation and the work of your own hands.

We gather to remember our compatriots: innocent folks who lost their
lives in an instant: from the air on ill-fated planes, while performing
heroic deeds of self-sacrifice, in rescuing others beneath fallen stones.
 Strengthen those who comfort the bereaved,  consoling the injured and
heal those who hurt, by guiding the conflicted and reassuring the
confused; 

Renew for us the awareness that  violence commited in the name of
religion is a crime against humanity and an affront to You, Our God.

Grant us stamina to withstand all tests and tragedies, give us resolve to
know what is good and what is evil, not only in others but in our own
natures; not only in obvious calamities, but in deeds that are less
visible 

Help us to overcome our personal impediments, flaws and sins and rise
above the inclination to blame the innocent many for the sins of a
misguided few;

Guide us with care and caution to expunge the sinister and restore that
which is saintly, in others and in ourselves; 

Enable us to transform hatred into love; fear into compassion;  revenge
into justice; anger into discipline; retribution into rededication. Grant
discernment to those who lead, safety to those who defend, perspective to
those who govern  and endurance to those who live and labor with trust in
the dawn of each new day. 

O God, be merciful and kind, so that lamentable atrocity will not make us
fall into the same dark sins as those who have done us harm; and to not
lose sight of that which is holy and good and true.

In the kiln of calamity, let us arise as a phoenix from the flames to
become righteous in thought and in deed, in mind and in heart, in action
and in belief.

Amen.  

Very Rev. Arthur E.Liolin

[ Note: By American resolve at the promontory on Dorchester Heights in
1776, the British were compelled to evacuate Boston. ]  
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