Praying and Fasting for Peace in Syria

The Pope has asked for a day of prayer and fasting,

Thinking, in faith, that God will listen and

Respond by sending to Syria and Obama a special heart-softening balm,

Which will touch the hearts of all those engaged

In political, religious, and tribal violence,

Which will have their hearts tell

The muscles of their arms and hands,

To stop firing guns, stop lighting fires,

Stop dropping bombs, stop throwing grenades.

Many who respond to the Pope’s appeal,

Gathering in churches and homes,

Pausing on football fields, pausing in supermarkets,

Will pray within a certain architecture of prayer

Whereby God is high above, a modern analog of Zeus,

When, in truth, God resides, present and warm,

In the heart of the Pope and of those doing violence,

Of those fleeing violence, of those suffering.   

May the God-in-Residence in our hearts

Turn us toward peace.

--September 7, 2013