We are entering what for many of us is a holiday season: from Thanksgiving and Bodhi Day to Hannukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.
Simultaneously, we are receiving news of escalation in the war between Ukraine and Russia. As that conflict takes on new intensity, the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is being exacerbated by winter weather, and violent attacks are continuing between Israel and Lebanon.
It is a dance to hold all of these realities. How can we welcome the much anticipated and greatly needed season of gratitude, generosity, and hospitality while also extending compassion to war’s victims and managing our own fear of war’s expansion?
Below are some prayers and activities that can help us both attend to the shadow of war and clear space for the healing presence of friends and family and the power of rest.
This desperate Catholic prayer by Henri J. Nouwen perfectly balances compassion for “the sweat and tears of thousands of people all over the world” with a cry to “Let the cup of war ... pass us by.”
Arthur Waskow’s “Oneness” challenges us with this beautiful task: "to make from fire not an all-consuming blaze / but the light in which we see each other fully.”
In this Jewish prayer Rabbi Nachmann of Breslov asks God for so thorough a peace that “there be no discord between people even in their hearts.
Arthur O. Roberts’ poem-prayer offers soulful answers to the scared heart’s questions: “A man gets to wondering, / Between bulldozers and the / fears / Of war, why look ahead / A hundred, even thirty years?”
Janet Morley’s reminds us that God can send “A New Sign of Peace” for “all who have lost their homes through persecution, war, exile, or deliberate destruction.”
Interfaith Amigo Don Mackenzie invites us to journal about violence in relationship to our nation, ourselves, and God.
If you would like a more extended practice, try Deepak Chopra’s weeklong program, “Seven Practices for Peace.”