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Prayer of a Haitian-American
Great and Awesome God,
The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
Who comfort us in all our troubles,
We kneel before your throne, the throne of grace.
You are
Our refuge in times of trouble,
Our comfort in times of sorrow,
Our strength in times of hardship.
We stand before you bound together by unspeakable grief and
sorrow
In this dark and trying hour in the history of our beloved City
and our great nation
We stand together before you and in the face of bewildering
calamity,
Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.
We the gorgeous mosaic stand united in our love for you and
love for our country.
Though bound by grief we are nevertheless united in hope;
Hope that now and ultimately life will triumph
Hope that in the rain-soaked rubbles many of our friends will
be found alive
Hope that our missing brothers and sisters will soon be
reunited with their loved ones
Hope that our grieving families and friends will be comforted
and provided with the strength to go on.
We are thankful that against the somber backdrop of this
tragedy you have highlighted the very best of the human heart.
Against the cowardice of our attackers you have magnified the
bravery of our policemen, firemen, elected officials and rescue workers who have sacrificed their lives that ours may continue.
Against the cruelty of those who hate us and seek to destroy us
the love and compassion of our fellow citizens shine even brighter.
We are thankful that the worst in man has not and will not
triumph over the best in man
We are thankful for this great nation which you have raised and
for its resilient and resourceful people
We are pressed on every side but not crushed
Perplexed but not in despair
Struck but not destroyed
By your grace and power
We will rise above this tragedy
We will stand tall in the world
We will transcend the vilest instincts of the human heart
We shall overcome.
With your strength and power may our City and our Nation
continue to hold up the bright torch of freedom and liberty in the world until the blessed day when nations beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, when nations no longer take up sword
against nations.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray: Thy Kingdom come.
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