Today in our prayers for the people of Guyana.

Prayer for Peace

Hiroshi Yamada 

Oh dear lord, God,

We get together in your sanctuary to offer our prayers for peace.

This day, we remember what happened when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, about 8:00 a.m. on August 6, 1945.

One single bomb instantly killed almost 200,000 people, most of whom were women, the young and old, students, and children. Some students were still on their way to school, others were playing with their teachers and friends on the playground. Children were hanging around their mothers’ skirts in the kitchen or in the living room.

Some were still sound asleep in their cribs, and others were ready for peaceful dreams, asleep on their mother’s bosom after being fed. No one knew what would happen to their lives in a few moments. But what a blast of heat waves from the atomic bomb ran through the peaceful city, changed instantly to a city of agonizing cries. The mothers looked for the missing children in vain; the children cried for water from killing thirst, and the old women groaned for help under the beams of burning houses crashing down around them.

Lord God, those cries, weeping, and groans of the children, the women, the young, and the old are not limited to those of Hiroshima all those years ago. They exist even now in the world. The wars and struggles continue. On the anniversary of the bombing, people from Japan and from all over the world gather at Hiroshima to pray for peace.

We, too, join them in spirit and pray with them for those who died in Hiroshima and for those who lost their loved ones in the blast. But our prayers go beyond Hiroshima. We pray for all those who died in wars, and for those who dedicated their lives to peace. We will remember in our prayers those who are now amid our sorrows from the wars. We want to renew our commitment to the pursuit of peace. Help us to be makers of peace.

We pray these things in the holy name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tags: prayer, peace, august, grenada