War-Time Insight

Many of those who have gone before us down the frightening corridors of war and terrorism, have left us the security that can be found only in God's faithfulness. This weekly column will help us touch for ourselves the faith of Christians, Jews, and Moslems, many of whom have suffered death at the hands of terrorists, even at the hands of each other. The radiance of their peace shines a light on the world's fragile path.

Prayer of Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, Kentucky. An amazingly prolific writer, Merton used his solitude to help clarify true values for those "who were filled with other cares." Among his books of spirituality and reflection on life, are volumes of essays on civil rights, nuclear weapons, and the Vietnam War.

O loving God, help us to be masters of the weapons that threaten to master us. Help us to use science for peace and plenty, not for war and destruction. Show us how to use nuclear power to bless our children's children, not to blight them. Save us from the compulsion to follow our adversaries in all that we most hate, confirming them in their hatred and suspicion of us. Resolve our inner contradictions, which now grow beyond belief and beyond bearing. They are at once a torment and a blessing, for if you had not left us the light of conscience, we would not have to endure them. Teach us to be long-suffering in anguish and insecurity. Teach us to wait and trust. Grant light, grant strength and patience to all who work for peace. Grant us prudence in relation to our power, wisdom in proportion to our science, humanness in proportion to our wealth and might. Bless our earnest will to help all races and people and to travel in friendship along the road to justice, liberty and lasting peace.