§ “He was the only person making his way into the city; he met hundreds and hundreds who were fleeing, and every one of them seemed to be hurt in some way. The eyebrows of some were burned off and skin hung from their faces and hands. Others, because of pain, held their arms up as if carrying something in both hands. Some were vomiting as they walked. Many were naked or in shreds of clothing. On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns—of undershirt straps and suspenders and, on the skin of some women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin), the shapes of flowers they had had on their kimonos. Many, although injured themselves, supported relatives who were worse off. Almost all had their heads bowed, looked straight ahead, were silent...” John Hersey, Hiroshima
§ “The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good might result?” John Hersey
§ “Almighty and merciful God, Father/Mother of all humans, Creator and ruler of the universe, Lord of all history… whose compassion for the errors of humans is inexhaustible, in your will is our peace.
Mercifully hear this prayer which rises to you from the tumult and desperation of a world in which you are forgotten, in which your name is not invoked, your laws are derided and your presence is ignored. Because we do not know you, we have no peace.
From the heart of an eternal silence, you have watched the rise of empires and have seen the smoke of their downfall. You have seen Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome, once powerful, carried away like sand in the wind. You have witnessed the impious fury of ten thousand fratricidal wars, in which great powers have torn whole continents to shreds in the name of peace and justice.
And now our nation itself stands in imminent danger of a war the like of which has never been seen! This nation dedicated to freedom, not to power, has obtained, through freedom, a power it did not desire. And seeking by that power to defend its freedom, it is enslaved by the processes and policies of power. Must we wage a war we do not desire, a war that can do no good, and which our very hatred of war forces us to prepare?
A day of ominous decision has now dawned on this free nation. Armed with a titanic weapon, and convinced of our own right, we face a powerful adversary, armed with the same weapon, equally convinced he is right. In this moment of destiny, this moment we never foresaw, we cannot afford to fail. Our choice of peace or war may decide our judgment and publish it in the eternal record. In this fatal moment of choice in which we might begin the patient architecture of peace. We may also take the last step across the rim of chaos.
Save us then from our obsessions! Open our eyes, dissipate our confusions, teach us to understand ourselves and our adversary. Let us never forget that sins against the law of love are punishable by loss of faith, and those without faith stop at no crime to achieve their ends!
Help us to be masters of the weapons that threaten to master us. Help us to use our science for peace and plenty, not for war and destruction. Show us how to use atomic 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, to this Congress, our President, our military forces, and our adversaries. Grant us prudence in proportion to our power, wisdom in proportion to our science, humaneness in proportion to our wealth and might. And bless our earnest will to help all races and peoples to travel, in friendship with us, along the road to justice, liberty, and lasting peace; But grant us above all to see that our ways are not necessarily your ways, that we cannot fully penetrate the mystery of your designs and that the very storm of power now raging on this earth reveals your hidden will and your inscrutable decision.
Grant us to see your face in the lightning of this cosmic storm, O God of holiness, merciful to men. Grant us to seek peace where it is truly found. In your will, O God, is our peace. Amen.
Thomas Merton, Prayer for Peace
§ “Present, loving God, on this 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, we remember the 140,000 children, women and men who perished in that blinding flash, the survivors who carried visible scars and invisible trauma, and the families whose stories were forever changed in a single moment.
We confess, O God, our human capacity for both devastating destruction and remarkable resilience. We have seen how quickly fear can eclipse love, how swiftly we can forget our shared humanity when we feel threatened or different from one another.
Yet we also witness, in the testimony of hibakusha—the survivors—a profound commitment to peace that transcends bitterness. In their courage to share their stories, we see your Spirit working to transform suffering into wisdom, trauma into testimony for peace.
Today we pray for world leaders who hold such power in their hands. Grant them the humility to seek counsel, the wisdom to choose dialogue over destruction, and the courage to lay down the tools of war. Help us all to remember that every person carries your image—in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Ukraine and Gaza, in Haiti and South Sudan—and every place where conflict threatens your beloved children.
We pray for our own hearts, that we might choose reconciliation in our daily relationships, practice forgiveness in small moments, and build bridges rather than walls in our communities. May our congregations be sanctuaries where former enemies find fellowship, where differences become opportunities for deeper understanding.
Holy Spirit, move among the nations. Transform our swords into plowshares, our nuclear arsenals into instruments of healing, our fear into faith. Help us envision and work toward a world in which children never again need to fear the sky, where the light that falls upon cities brings true warmth and life. Amen.”
Julie Pennington-Russell
