Like many other people around the world, I have been trying to craft a prayer for the Middle East, but the events of the past few days has left me without words. The level of violence, the ferocity of attacks, the targeting of civilians, the taking of hostages, the tactics of terrorists, the intensity of the response - all of these and so much more has left me with the sense that no words I could craft are equal to the horror of the circumstances in which individuals and families are trapped. I know that we are called to hope in the face of despair, but the temptation to desperation is intense at this moment of history.

Of course, in the face of the harsh realities of this world, we cannot begin with hope alone. To do so is to risk venturing away from reality into a realm of fantasy - a realm in which no one benefits and injustices are perpetuated. Our journey begins with truth telling in the face of ideology. The truth is that there is a long history of injustice in the region. Palestinian people were displaced in the initial formation of the modern state of Israel. The injustice of what occurred in the founding of Israel cannot be fully understood without telling the truth of the Holocaust. The attempted genocide of all Jewish people is a harsh reality of the history of the 20th century. No amount of avoidance or escapism can erase the truth of what happened. Like many other intense traumas, telling the story is immensely difficult. The reality caused so much pain and suffering that generations have been traumatized just by the recounting of the truths of what happened. Truth, however, is the only answer to fascist ideology. Telling that truth, however, does not erase the truth of the suffering of the Palestinian people. They have been forced to accept the reality of Israel through generations of refugee living. Their yearning for a nation of their own and full access to sacred sites have sometimes blossomed into realistic proposals for a two nation solution in Israel, but their cries for justice have not been fully supported by the international community and there are harsh ideologies in Israel who wish to deny their right to exist. To their ideology, truth must be told. These are not mere political positions or ideological rhetoric. These are human beings with hopes and aspirations of their own.

There is, of course more truth that must be told in the face of the recent attacks. Missiles hurled at civilians create victims of innocents. Attacks against unarmed noncombatants create intense suffering. The taking of hostages is a terror tactic, not a military maneuver. Torture and execution cannot bring justice. Violence is not the solution. Violence begets violence. And Israel is one of the best armed countries in the world. The violence that Hamas has brought upon Israel will be answered with greater force and greater violence. The suffering will only increase.

As the truth is told, there is a natural tendency to denial. People of faith bring grief to denial. Perhaps it is the grief that we are feeling most intensely at the moment. We are grieving the loss of a vision of two states living peacefully side by side. We are grieving the loss of peace. We are grieving the senseless loss of life. We are grieving the refusal of either side to take the moral high ground. We are grieving the loss of safety for family and friends who travel to Israel. We are grieving the destruction not only of property and of human lives, but also of possibilities for peace. We are grieving the kind of trauma that produces generations of suffering. There is much to grieve.

When we have found the courage to tell the truth and the faith to walk the journey of grief, we are called to genuine hope in the face of the despair of the world. I might more accurately say that we will be called to hope, for it seems that we are not yet ready for hope and false hope is no hope at all.

And so I pray, not finding the right words for my prayers. And I know, having learned from many other experiences of times when no words for my prayers have come that when this is the case, it is critical to be reminded that I am not the only one praying.

God of justice, God of shalom, God of hope,
We cry to you from the depths,
The clash of ideologies has resulted in a reign of terror,
The pain of generations is producing even more pain for future generations
The injustices of the past have burst forth in unimaginable violence.
We pray for peace.

The peace for which we pray is the peace that passes all understanding.
For we do not understand how peace can come in a world of such injustice.
We do not understand how peace can come when so many innocents are slaughtered.
We do not understand how peace can come in the face of generational trauma.
The only peace for which we can pray is the peace that passes all understanding.

We know this hurting world cannot wait until we are able to understand.
So we pray for peace. Peace for Israel. Peace for Palestine.
Peace for every individual whose lives have become swept up in war.

Peace that ends violence.
Peace that removes the hunger for retaliation and revenge.
Peace that emerges in the face of deep suffering and unimaginable grief.
Peace that passes all understanding.

God grant peace to this world.
God grant peace to the parents grieving the loss of children.
God grant peace to the devastated widows.
God grant peace to the irrationally angry.
God grant peace to the lost and lonely.
God grand peace that passes all understanding.

Long ago our people prayed for a messiah
Your answer was a baby in a manger
Your answer came in the midst of the messiness of human life.

Once again we pray for a savior, knowing that our prayers have already been granted.
Give us eyes to see the prince of peace in the midst of our broken world.
In your many names we pray, Amen.