The Family of the Friend of God
Heal, O Lord,
The
shattered family
Of
Thy servant Abraham.
Let Isaac come home,
A
natural branch restored
To
the tree of covenant-love.
May his perseverant faith,
Forged
through centuries of fire, awake
To
its long-expected, long-offered fulfillment.
Let Ishmael come home,
Raising
his hand no longer
Against
the nations of the world.
May his hostility,
Prophesied
from of old,
Be
transfigured into solidarity.
And may he too, a broken limb,
Be gently
grafted back
Onto his father’s spreading tree,
So that all the offspring
Of
the friend of God
Together
may confess
That there is one Lord,
One
faith, one baptism,
One
God and Father of us all.
Amen.