Pause for Thought

I played the recording above http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p023vrz9 to my husband today and he asked if the words were there, as he'd like to ponder them. Well, I found Rabbi Pete's website and the words (and more) were there. the first part (not on the broadcast) is God speaking and the second is the voices of the children of the conflict, of Israel and Gaza. http://www.rabbipete.co.uk/home/publications/prayer-of-the-children-of-gaza-and-israel

Here's the ending:

So help us, God of Abraham and Ishmael,

God of Isaac and of everyone there is

When we turn to you to ask for hope and guidance

Help us understand that what you want is this:

To seek not revenge, but reconciliation

Not to hate, but try instead to understand

That all humans want and ask and need and yearn for

Is to live our lives exactly as You planned:

To appreciate Your world and one another,

To plant seeds of love wherever we might dwell

To raise families in peaceful homes, in safety

And ensure that others live like this as well.

To recognise that You’re in every person

And see Your face in all women and men.

May we help to bring about this understanding

Soon, in our days, and let us say ‘Amen’.

"God of Abraham and Ishmael,

God of Isaac and of everyone there is..."

Abraham was the father of the Jewish and Arab peoples. His first son Ishmael was born to his wife's maid, Hagar and his second son Isaac, to his wife, Sarah. So that makes the people's of the Middle East, cousins. In fact, Muslims and Jews not only share the common link of descendency to Abraham, with many Jewish prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, 'but many of their dietary rules too.In fact, all three major faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam find their roots in Abraham.

If only the warring sides could all remember that!
Love and peace,

Judy