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Lighting Our First Advent Candle With A Remembrance Day Litany: Ashes, Stones, and Flowers
In memory of all Victims of War and Terrorism
Led by the Spencer Family
One: For vibrant lives of all people suddenly and
shamelessly sacrificed,
All: We lift up the ashes of our loss, O Source of Life.
One: For the lives that continue, haunted forever by the pain of absence,
All: We lift up the ashes of our remorse, O Wellspring of Compassion.
One: For the conflagration of flames and nightmare images forever seared into our memories,
All: We lift up the ashes of our pain, O Breathing Spirit of the World.
One: For the charred visions of peace and the dry taste of fear,
All: We lift up the ashes of our grief, O Infinite.
One: For all the deaths that have been justified by turning the love of God or country into fanatical arrogance,
All: We lift up the ashes of our shame, O God. As we cast these ashes into the troubled water of our times,
Transforming One, hear our plea:
Men: that by your power they will make fertile the soil of our future
Women: and by your mercy nourish the seeds of peace.
Silence
One: For the ways humanity pursues violence rather than understanding,
All: We lift up the stones of our anger, O Breathing Spirit of the World.
One: For the ways we allow national, religious and ethnic boundaries to circumscribe our compassion,
All: We lift up the stones of our hardness, O Wellspring of Compassion.
One: For our addiction to weapons and the ways of
militarism,
All: We lift up the stones of our fear, O Source of Life.
One: For the ways we cast blame and create enemies,
All: We lift up the stones of our self-righteousness, O God. As we place these stones into this troubled water, Transforming One, hear our plea:
Men: Just as water wears away the hardest of stones,
Women: so too may the power of your compassion soften the hardness of our hearts and draw us into a future of
justice and peace.
Silence
One: For sowing seeds of justice to blossom into harmony,
All: We cast these flowers into the water, O Source of Peace.
One: For seeing clearly the many rainbow colors of humanity and earth,
All: We cast these flowers into water, O Infinite.
One: For calling us to life beyond our grieving,
All: We cast these flowers into water, O Breathing Spirit of the World. As we cast these flowers into this living water, Transforming One, hear our plea:
Men: Just as water births life in a desert and gives hope to the wounded,
Women: so too may the power of your nurturing renew our commitment to peace.
One: May hope light the world this Christmas. (Light the first Advent Candle.)
The above litany is adapted from Rev Patricia Pearce, former pastor of Tabernacle United Church, Philadelphia, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director of The Shalom Center.
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