A Life Dedicated to Justice, Equality, and Peace

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking to a crowd in San Francisco on June 30, 1964. In this black-and-white photograph, the humidity of the evening has cause a beam of light to appear surrounding King, as he gestures from a lectern.

[In this difficult time of war and destruction,] We call to our minds today the life of a man of peace, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We pray that like Dr. King, we may have the courage to live our convictions even in the face of overwhelming opposition. That we may live a life dedicated to justice, equality, and peace.

We pray today for all those suffering the terror and desolation of war, in Iraq, in the Sudan, in [names], in a thousand places we don't hear about in our news. We pray that all people may know peace and security, free from fear of bombs, free from the horror of tyranny, free to live and to love.

In particular, we pray for children, that they may know healing that salves the wounds of war, both physical and spiritual. We pray that they may live to know a life without fear.

And we pray for ourselves, and for those in our community and in our own families who suffer, who mourn, who face the extraordinary and the everyday difficulties and fears of this life.

At times we are overwhelmed. At times we despair that in the face of the forces of oppression and sickness, of violence and destruction, our actions, our work, our faith, amounts to nothing. Dr. King reminds us that, with love, and faith, one person really can change the world.

O God—Grant us ears to hear the prophets of our own time.
May we have the wisdom to discern their message through the noise and discord of our lives.

May we have the strength to do what must be done in this world.

May we find the courage to live our lives as lives of conviction, of spirit, of faith.

May we know justice, and peace, in our time.

Blessed be. Amen.