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In reply to the discussion: War on Syria: Twenty Pounds of Stupid in a Ten-Pound Bag [View all]niyad
(113,229 posts)129. the war prayer (listening to the drumbeat, time to dig this out again)
The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fulttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory with stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.
It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safetys sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!
Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:
God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest,
Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!
Then came the long prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preachers side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord and God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside which the startled minister did and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
I come from the Throne bearing a message from Almighty God! The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of except he pause and think. Gods servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two one uttered, and the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon your neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain on your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse on some neighbors crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.
You have heard your servants prayer the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it that part which the pastor and also you in your hearts fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard the words Grant us the victory, O Lord our God! That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth into battle be Thou near them! With them in spirit we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended in the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames in summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it
For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimmage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.
(After a pause.) Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
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No plan short of a Regional All-Out War and the kind of redrawing of borders....
Junkdrawer
Aug 2013
#10
Then don't perpetuate the neocon agenda. Have the balls to not be afraid of being labeled
indepat
Aug 2013
#74
The world had a looong time to encourage Syria to join the Chemical Weapons Convention.
AtheistCrusader
Aug 2013
#25
Kadaffi did that - his son visited with Hillary - then he got a knife in the back.
HumansAndResources
Aug 2013
#117
Chemical weapons by Assad doesn't mean we should support the Al-Quaeda opposition.
lark
Aug 2013
#42
you ignore a lot of history about "American statecraft" and diplomacy that has been occurring
Pretzel_Warrior
Aug 2013
#22
Question: Why is killing people with chemical weapons worse than killing with bullets...
AdHocSolver
Aug 2013
#24
disgusting..out of control...lets just destroy more and cause more devastation because its
xiamiam
Aug 2013
#31
I don't agree. It's not a "war on Syria." It's a targeted response to a crime against humanity.
MADem
Aug 2013
#33
"If it is established beyond doubt that chemical weapons were used in Syria, either by the Assad
avaistheone1
Aug 2013
#37
They are going to pay for this with the credit of your great-great grandchildrens' credit.
AnotherMcIntosh
Aug 2013
#43
"One, two, three, four! What are we fightin' for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn!"
LongTomH
Aug 2013
#48
All this nation does is throw its weight around, making the world safe for corporate dominance.
Enthusiast
Aug 2013
#49
in that case, what do you think the world's response should have been to the US use of chemical
niyad
Aug 2013
#127
so, you are all in favour of a military intervention, without the least idea how it might be carried
niyad
Aug 2013
#128
wow-- a spanking? amazing concept there. so it really does not matter to you HOW they go about
niyad
Aug 2013
#144
The UN will not act because the Russians and Chinese have the veto power. n/t
totodeinhere
Aug 2013
#86
If there is conclusive proof that Assad is behind the chemical attacks then we take him to the ICC.
totodeinhere
Aug 2013
#85
The West doesn't care about human rights either. They do care about oil, propping
totodeinhere
Aug 2013
#147
The ICC itself does not do enforcement, but signatories to the Rome accord
totodeinhere
Aug 2013
#150
Corporate-mercenary war-mongers are the only ones who will gain from more war,. .
Civilization2
Aug 2013
#81
Seems we're still following the PNAC list, even with Tony Blair cheering along again.
suffragette
Aug 2013
#110
The thing that really bothers me about the entire Syria discussion (by some) is the disconnection
steve2470
Aug 2013
#119
It's not "war" Will, it's "a slap across the face". A "warning", if you will.
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2013
#145