A prayer service with the people of Sudan

The clear highlight of the day was the blessing of participating in a prayer service with the people of Sudan. Here is a reflection originally written for Swords into Plowshares, the blog of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Remember.

The interfaith group who gathered today in the Tillman Chapel at the Church Center for the United Nations to pray with the people of Sudan in anticipation of the referendum on self-determination in Southern Sudan did that.

Remember.

Times and places when people made hard decisions and peace prevailed were named.

Remember.

The violence and the pain, the death and the suffering, faced by the Sudanese people through the years, was recalled as was their courage and grace, hope and faith.

Remember.

Participants held pictures of people from Sudan as reminders of those for whom prayers were said - those with whom prayers were said - for the people of Sudan are and have been and will continue praying in the days through the referendum and its implementation and beyond.

Remember.

Re-member. Bring the members back together. The members of the human family. In Sudan. Around the world. All the human being tribe.

Remember.

"You are not forgotten. We remember your names." The song echoed off the chapel walls and guided the participants from the chapel to the Isaiah Wall in the cold and snow.

Remember.

Large snow flakes and the swirling wind made it impossible to light the candles the participants carried even though they could not extinguish the candles of hope and love and faith that are lit in human minds and hearts and spirits.

Remember.

As the service closed, the participants together recited the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

May it be so. For Sudan. For us all.