Gracious and loving God, as we pray for all those suffering from violence and the effects of natural disasters, especially in California, we ask that we may be inspired to greater action and hope by the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoken in 1967, as follows:
We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of
retaliation. We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.
In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace . . . and justice throughout the… world — a world that borders on our doors. Now let us begin. Now let us re-dedicate ourselves to the long and bitter — [and] beautiful — struggle for a new world.—AMEN.