Last night, on the eve of Veterans Day, was my usual Wednesday night visit at the Rayburn Prison. In many ways, it was our normal Wednesday, prayers, preaching, The Eucharist. On this night we had a very large crowd, 35 men in total. Each night I invite the men to offer petitions during the prayers of the faithful. Often the prayers focus on the families of the men, their cases before various courts and often they prayer for each other, our ministry, those of us who volunteer. Tonight, one of the men offered a sincere, beautiful prayer for veterans and those serving in the military presently and their families.
Prompted by this beautiful prayer I asked if there were any veterans in the room tonight and we had about 7. The rest of the men present broke out in spontaneous applause. It was a special moment. At the end of the evenings service, I asked the men what they wanted to sing as a closing song. They choose 3: America the Beautiful, God Bless America, Let There Be Peace on Earth! And they sang full throated and prayerfully.
Today I began my day in a prayerful reminder of thanksgiving for veterans and wondered as I went through the day do we honor their service, do we teach respect for these men in schools across the nation and do we pray for an end to war and the safe return of all who serve and for peace and comfort for their families.
Tonight, before we go to bed, pray for veterans, for active service men and women and pray that war will no longer be necessary and we find a way to exist in peace with God as the center of our lives!
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