A Prayer

This prayer was offered by The Christian Science Board of Directors in response to President Bush's declaration of a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Sept. 14, 2001:

'Thy Kingdom come....'

Three plainspoken words from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples two thousand years ago.

Today, in this time of prayer, our desire is to feel the comfort, safety, strength, and order of God's Kingdom here on earth. We trust our Father-Mother God to open our eyes to see the blessings of this spiritual Kingdom - right at hand. To give us the right to shed tears and dry them. To hold each other close and then let go, confidently. To wisely test - and come to trust. To restore all parts of all of our cities - according to the design of Thy Kingdom.

Then the declaration of the prophet Isaiah will ring out in God's word:

And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places;

(Isaiah 32:18)

Now, and forward, from this National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, we pray to understand the vision the Almighty has already given, and the spiritual resources He has spread upon us, to temper the winds of grief, and to enrich our capacities to live with each other in honor, trust, respect, and affection, day after day after day.

Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, guides our trust and prayers with these words:

To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings

("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. vii)