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Prayer for Peace
by
Thomas Merton
(This prayer was read in the House of Representatives by Congressman Frank
Kowalski (D, Connecticut) on 4/12/1962, the Wednesday in the Holy Week)
Almighty and merciful God, Father of all men, Creator and ruler of the
universe, Lord of all history, whose designs are without blemish, whose
compassion for the errors of men is inexhaustible, in your will is our
peace.
Mercifully hear this prayer which rises to you from the tumult and
desperation of a world in which you are forgotten, in which your name is not
invoked, your laws are derided and your presence is ignored. Because we do
not know you, we have no peace.
>From the heart of an eternal silence, you have watched the rise of empires
and have seen the smoke of their downfall. You have witnessed the impious
fury of ten thousand fratricidal wars, in which great powers have torn whole
continents to shreds in the name of peace and justice.
A day of ominous decision has now dawned on this free nation. Save us then
from our obsessions! Open our eyes, dissipate our confusions, teach us to
understand ourselves and our adversary. Let us never forget that sins
against the law of love are punishable by loss of faith, and those without
faith stop at no crime to achieve their ends!
Help us to be masters of the weapons that threaten to master us. Help us to
use our science for peace and plenty, not for war and destruction. Save us
from the compulsion to follow our adversaries in all that we most hate,
confirming them in their hatred and suspicion of us. Resolve our inner
contradictions, which now grow beyond belief and beyond bearing. They are
at once a torment and a blessing: for if you had not left us the light of
conscience, we would not have to endure them. Teach us to wait and trust.
Grant light, grant strength and patience to all who work for peace. But
grant us above all to see that our ways are not necessarily your ways, that
we cannot fully penetrate the mystery of your designs and that the very
storm of power now raging on this earth reveals your hidden will and your
inscrutable decision.
Grant us to see your face in the lightning of this cosmic storm, O God of
holiness, merciful to men. Grant us to seek peace where it is truly found.
In your will, O God, is our peace.
