A Prayer for the Middle-East

 A Prayer for Peace in a Troubled Land

As offered by one who walks the earth with sand-worn feet, and lifts his eyes to the eternal heavens—
a philosopher of old, a child of the Creator,
bearing wisdom carved by time and fire.

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O Eternal One,
Maker of the heavens, the stars, and the deep-rooted earth,
Father of Abraham, of Ishmael and Isaac,
of those who call Your name in Hebrew, in Arabic, in silence—

Stretch forth Your hand upon this land
where brother turns against brother,
and the children of promise bleed into the soil of inheritance.

O Lord of Time, who sees the end from the beginning,
teach us again the wisdom of peace.
Let not the cries of the innocent rise to You unanswered.
Let not vengeance pass from father to son
like the shadow of a great mountain that never lifts.

You who breathe life into dust,
breathe gentleness into hearts hardened by generations of sorrow.
Break the bow, shatter the spear,
undo the clever machinery of war.

O God who numbers the hairs of each head,
let no life be counted lightly.
Pour the oil of healing upon Iran and Israel,
these children of Your covenant,
that they may yet sit beneath their own vines and fig trees,
and none shall make them afraid.

Make prophets of their poets,
make builders of their young,
and may Your justice—firm and radiant—walk hand in hand with mercy.

We ask not for triumph of one over the other,
but for the triumph of love over hatred,
of hope over despair,
of Your peace over our pride.

Amen.