1. Yummy breakfast, “Spinach and Bacon Skillet,” with over-easy eggs and blue cheese crumbles, at J. Christopher’s, a favorite and nearby breakfast hangout here near us in Savannah.
2. Bright green.
3. HR’s wedding ring, reflecting light.
4. Air. To breathe.
5. More and more symbols of solidarity with Ukraine in my Savannah neighborhood.
Peace. Peace. Peaceful Weekend.
I love/hate seeing more reminders right here in Savannah about the atrocities going on in Ukraine …
… at the gym where HR and I work out …
And at our favorite bar …
May peace come.
“Lord in Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayer.”
A blog category featuring quotes and prayers for peace for our troubled world.
A blog category featuring quotes and prayers for peace for our troubled world.
A new blog category featuring quotes and prayers for peace for our troubled world.
O Lord, awaken the consciousness
of all peoples and their leaders;
raise up men and women
full of love and generosity
who can speak and act for peace,
and show us new ways
in which hatred can be left behind,
wounds can be healed,
and unity can be restored.
Amen
Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy
Marveling at two poetic views of peace …
THE ROCK CRIES OUT TO US TODAY
Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.
Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one. — Maya Angelou
For this week’s Saturday Evening Post, I share with you excerpts from today’s weekly email from Billy Hester, the pastor of our church here in Savannah — Asbury Memorial.
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Dear Asbury & Wesley Oak Family,
I write you with a heavy heart due to the tragedy occurring in Europe. For the first time since World War II, Air Raid Sirens are going off in Kyiv. We are seeing the worst of humanity as Russia invades Ukraine, destroying the lives of countless men, women, and children. More than ever, we need to come together in prayer. I hope you will join me in church this Sunday as I lead us in prayer for the people of these two countries and for the world.
When I was a teenager I was a percussionist in the Savannah Youth Orchestra. But honestly, I wasn’t a very good drummer…as in the snare drum. But I played a pretty mean bass drum. My real speciality was playing the cymbals. I could clash with the best of them! And I got to play the cymbals on my favorite piece of music that we performed, a song called, “The Great Gate of Kiev.” It is one of the most majestic and inspiring songs ever written. Kiev is another way of spelling the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. The song was written to celebrate the Golden Gate that was built to protect Kiev in 1873.
Here is the song. It’s about 9 minutes long. I invite you to pray for the people of Ukraine as you listen to it.
After you spend this 9 minutes in prayer, go back to the 8:00 minute mark of the song and watch the orchestra play the last part of the song. This was my favorite part. It’s when the cymbals really take over. Watch the cymbal player, and imagine little Billy Hester clashing away on the stage at the Civic Center!
Love & peace, Rev. Billy Hester
May there be Peace on Earth.
Lord in Your Mercy, Hear our Prayer.
O God of many names
Lover of all nations
We pray for peace
in our hearts
in our homes
in our nations
in our world
The peace of your will
The peace of our need.
— George Appleton, The Oxford Book of Prayer (Oxford University Press, 1985)
“Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.”
