Here's the prayer for the Memorial Day weekend included in the worship service:
Reading from the presidential proclamation for Memorial Day 2012:
Our Nation endures and thrives because of the devotion of our men and women in uniform, who, from generation to generation, carry a burden heavier than any we may ever know. On Memorial Day, we honor those who have borne conflict's greatest cost, mourn where the wounds of war are fresh, and pray for a just, lasting peace....
In honor of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950... has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace....Let us pray:
Our Father in heaven, save us from two extremes: From indifference, on the one hand, and from “unseemly revelry” (Peter Marshall, Chaplain U.S. Senate, c. 1948) on the other hand. Save us, on the one hand, from being too casual and even forgetful of what Memorial Day is all about; and, on the other hand, from the celebration of military might and the glorification of war.
God of compassion and caring, we pray for the families of those who have given their lives in the service of their country, especially those who have died in the continuing conflicts in the Middle East. As we give you thanks for the unwavering service and dedication of the fallen, we come with prayers, too, for those currently serving. Encourage them, strengthen them, and even though they must fight--save their hearts from malice, from keeping score, and from dehumanization of their enemies.
Encourage and comfort, too, those veterans returning from battle; for those who have lost a hand or the use of their legs or otherwise injured, and for those, too, with wounds buried deep inside. For each of them, whatever their particular situation, and for their spouses and children and others in their lives: Grant, O Lord, healing and wholeness.
Sovereign God, we pray for the leaders of these United States and for those in positions of authority in other nations too. Give them wisdom, moral courage, and hearts which long for peace and justice.
God bless our native land
May your protective hand still guard our shore:
May peace here power extend,
Foe be transformed to friend,
Our nation’s rights depend on war no more.
And not this land alone
But be your mercy shown from shore to shore
Lord, make the nations see
That all should brethren be,
And form one family the wide world o’er.
(Translation of a Welsh text)
And give a new heart, O God, not just to presidents and kings, not just to the powerful, but to each one of us. Give us a broader vision of the needs of all peoples and a deep, Christ-like compassion to fill those needs. Make our hearts be good soil, open to the seeds of concern you plant within us. Help us to be gentle, to be understanding, and to stand for what is right. Enable us to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. Make us as anxious that the rights of all others be firmly established as we are that our own rights be recognized. Help us to move beyond barriers of race or creed or class or political party that our love may be like yours -- a love that sees all men and women and children as your children and as our sisters and brothers. Give us the desire and resolve to become ministers of mercy and ambassadors of kindness for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
(Portions adapted from a prayer "For World-Neighborliness" and inspired by other prayers by Peter Marshall in The Prayers of Peter Marshall, Mc-Graw Hill)
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