PLUS: a prayer for Memorial Day…in, from, for.

Dear Power Greater Than Myself, 

power greater than my fears, greater than my hopes, greater than my limited understanding of life,

We have set this day aside to remember.

We remember those who died IN war.

Whose bravery was not enough to survive the battlefield.

But God, help us also remember those who died FROM war.

Whose bravery was not enough to survive the battlefield of their own post-traumatic minds.

Help us remember those who are still trying to survive wars long past.

Who no longer wear the uniform, but still bear the scars, seen and unseen.

Help us also remember those who died FOR war.

Children and mothers and bakers and doctors and people just walking to the grocery store, whose civilian status was not enough to keep them safe from mortar shells, and who do not have flags and parades in their honor.

May their memory be for blessing,

But may it also be for warning.

May their memory help us not forget the long, tangled cost of war, and to see in our own human hearts all the very things that led them to die. 

Amen.

— Nadia Bolz Weber