Please unite our hearts and minds in meditation and prayer.
Almighty God and our heavenly Father,
Thank you for this beautiful day and this wonderful occasion where your people can gather together in good health and kindred spirits, in this safe and peaceful surrounding.
At the same time, we cannot help but think of the heart-wrenching situation in Afghanistan where a great number of Americans and allies remain abandoned behind enemy lines. We pray for their safety and ultimate deliverance from the hands of the Taliban.
We think of the families of the thirteen young, handsome and uniformed heroes that lost their precious lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. Their hearts are full of grief and sorrow, disbelief and doubts, and a deep sense of betrayal by those they trusted, wondering if the untimely deaths of their loved ones were necessary in the line of duty, or due to the sheer incompetence of those in high command and their neglect for life. We grieve with them in their bereavement. We pray that you will comfort them in their anguish. May their hope be lifted up, knowing that you are the Great and ultimate Judge of all the Earth, just and righteous, and vengeance is yours, you will repay. And may their hearts be encouraged knowing that because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, all who believe in Him will one day be raised again.
Over the past year, we have all lost something beautiful and deeply American that has left a gaping hole in our hearts. Once there was civility and freedom of expression, now there is intimidation, bullying and cancel culture; once there was equal opportunity for all, now there is discrimination and critical race theory; once there was personal safety and tranquility, now there is widespread violence and criminality.
As we lament on these losses, may we all draw strength from the pen of William Wordsworth:
What though the radiance that was once so bright,
Be now forever taken from my sight.
Though nothing can bring back the hour,
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy, which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
Help us turn our sorrow and indignation into courageous action, as we do not wish to stand idly by while evil triumphs.
Strengthen us in our fight for truth, liberty and justice, against falsehood, tyranny and treachery; give us voice to echo the strong and unwavering words of President Donald Trump,
“We will not bend, we will not break, we will not yield,
we will never give in, we will never give up, we will never look back,
and we will never ever surrender.”
May God save America.
In your mighty and victorious name,
Amen.
By Ambrose KC Hung
