When I Pray For Peace – Thomas Merton

Published in 1961, these words of Thomas Merton are especially relevant today as we remember both the dropping of the first and second atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki AND as we look at the world today. In addition to the Russians and the Chinese (who are involved today in the latest immoral “war” in the Middle East) I would add Israel and Iran. Literally, God help us to change the course of this nation and world before it is too late!

When I pray for peace I pray God to pacify not only the Russians and the Chinese but above all my own nation and myself. When I pray for peace I pray to be protected not only from the Reds but also from the folly and blindness of my own country. When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my country may cease to want war, but above all that my own country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable. In other words, when I pray for peace I am not just praying that the Russians will give up without a struggle and let us have our own way. I am praying that both we and the Russians may somehow be restored to sanity and learn how to work out our problems, as best we can, together, instead of preparing for global suicide. — New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 121