New Year's Prayer September 8, 2013

“We cannot merely pray to God to end war.
We cannot merely pray to God to root out prejudice.
We cannot merely pray to God to end starvation.
We cannot merely pray to God to end despair
We cannot merely pray to God to end disease.
Therefore we pray to God
for strength, determination and will power,
to be instead of just to pray
to become instead of merely to wish.”
                           Rabbi Jack Reimer

This prayer, found on the website of the Sisters of Saint Joseph on the celebration of the Jewish New Year reflects the desire of us all for peace in the world and for hope in our hearts. As we listen to the differing opinions of the United States' role in the spread of nerve gas in Syria, we have no good choices to make, as individuals and as citizens. 

We abhor violence but we respect the right to use violence to prevent another Holocaust. We as a country entered too late to prevent Hitler and the genocide in Rwanda; we must support our President in this most difficult decision because the cost of Iran or even North Korea usng nuclear power is even greater than Assad killing hundreds of thousands of his own people, although I suspect he aims for Sunnis, not Allowites. 

We cannot effect change within the Middle Eastern countries which are so torn by tribal loyalties they cannot work together in their common interest, but we can let go of our partisan views to unite in a common effort to save the planet from poison gases which we permitted to be bought by Syria during the 1980's when we were more concerned about nuclear energy than nerve gas components. The West sold these components to Syria- and profitted financially from the sales, short sightedly not thinking of their future power on the world stage.

Let's ask our congress to vote to support the President and wish our rockets Godspeed in their mission