A Prayer for Those Who Do Great Harm

This was written by a Francis Wade on September 11, 2011 in memory of the 10th Anniversary of the attacks on New York City, Washington, DC and the plane that went down in Pennslyvania. I share it today in honour of the 11th anniversary of the day that changed my world in a huge way. Almighty God, whose will it is to place awesome power into the hearts, minds, and hands of your children, let your care and our compassion be on those who do harm as well as those who are harmed. Lord, you reached across the limits of human understanding to embrace the outcast and the lost; reach now beyond our understanding and embrace those who have caused so much pain and death this day. We cannot but commend them to you,for in our hearts are seeds of hatred and in our nostrils the stench of madness. As you touch them in your healing ways, Lord God, dry also the hate that could grow in us, smother the fear that would blind us, and deliver us from the temptation to follow instincts that are far from the path you have set before us. In the Name of the One we always hope to follow, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Thanks to Elizabeth Bennett from Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, Park Hill for sharing this.