Ken Sehested
Introduction
Today, 30 April, is the anniversary of the official end of the Vietnam War (1975). Though it was never officially a “war,” since the US Congress, according to explicit Constitutional directive, is the only authority to declare such.
In 2018, leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Mỹ Lai Massacre, when US forces murdered some 500 men, women, and children in that small hamlet, an ad hoc committee organized national commemorations of this war crime. I was asked to put together worship resources for such remembrances in Christian congregations.
Below is some of the material from a worship liturgy for use in churches, “Penitential Opportunity.”
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Prelude
“Come on, people! Come on, children! / Come on down to the glory river / Gonna wash you up, and wash you down / Gonna lay the devil down, gonna lay that devil down / Come on, people! Come on, children! / There’s a king at the glory river / And the precious king, he loved the people to sing / Babes in the blinkin’ sun sang, ‘We shall overcome’ / And I got fury in my soul / Fury’s gonna take me to the glory goal / In my mind I can’t study war no more / Save the people! Save the children! Save the country, save the country now!” —“Save the Country,” Laura Nyro
Invocation
“To speak about God and remain silent on Vietnam is blasphemous.” {Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel}
Call to Worship
One: We gather to remember a story of war that haunts us to this day, to remember a wrong that must be made right.
All: We gather to reckon with the sorrow that still pains the souls of many—to reckon with the brokenness that remains within the living who cannot forget the dead.
One: We gather to reflect upon the prospects for meaningful justice and the compelling call for healing and reconciliation.
All: We gather to resolve not to leave this place unchanged or unwilling to transform this haunting memory into something good. In the words of Rabbi Abraham Yitzak Kook, “We don’t speak because we have the power to speak; we speak because we don’t have the power to remain silent.” {Paul C. Hayes}
Opening Prayer
Holy Light, we stand somewhere in the shadows, in between the battlefield of our struggles and the sanctuary of our souls. Shed a little light on our way. Keep your lighted sanctuary within us portable, able to see clearly, to walk courageously, to withstand the forces that corrupt the truth of our belonging to your one world wide family.
Keep our madmen world leaders away from buttons of annihilation. Keep them clearly out of range from pushing our buttons toward hopelessness and helplessness. Don’t give them security clearness to our spirits. Keep us ever secure in You. Shed a little light on our way.
Shed your light of healing on all who struggle with illness of body, mind and spirit. Shed your light of grace on all who stumble with regrets and shame too tender to touch. Shed your light of mercy on all who fear for their lives, who are caught in the crucible of suffering. Here, now, once again…shed a little light on us all. Amen. {Nancy Hastings Sehested}
Word
“There are things that can be seen only with eyes that have cried.” {Roman Catholic Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa, martyred in 2001 in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo}
Confession
One: The One who extends Presence into the most desolate region—even to the place of utter abandonment—is mighty in mercy, strong in tenderness, powerful in pardoning.
All: God hears! God knows! Therefore we will praise that Unspeakable Name forever.
One: Relax, oh my soul, in the arms of the One who dries tears, who swaddles our fretful limbs, whose light in the night scatters dragons, and whose promise is bounty and abundance.
All: God hears! God knows! This is our assurance against the ravages of fear. Therefore we will praise that Unspeakable Name forever.
Absolution
“Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.” {Book of Common Prayer, prayer for Ash Wednesday}
Words of Assurance
Be assured that the God who shakes heaven and earth, whom death could not contain, who lives to disturb us and heal us, blesses us with the power of the Spirit to redeem and to restore with justice and in love. {Adapted from Janet Morley’s “All Desires Known”}
Word
“Repentance for silence is better than repentance for speaking.” {Moorish proverb}
Professing Our Faith
One: For what do we hope?
All: We hope for the Beloved’s promise to overtake the world’s broken-hearted threat.
One: For what do we long?
All: We long for the moist goodness of God to outlast the parched climate of despair.
One: For what do we lack?
All: We lack for nothing—save the need for hearts enlarged by the assurance that every hostage will be freed.
One: For what do we strive?
All: We strive for lives marked by goodness, purified of deceit and malice, and hands made gentle by the tender caress of Wisdom’s approach.
One: For what do we struggle?
All: We struggle for the fate of every child whose sighs and cries are muffled by the market’s disdain.
One: In what do we rejoice?
All: We rejoice in rebellious acts of abundance in the face of every stingy arrangement.
One: For what prize do our eyes arise?
All: Our eyes arise for the Beloved Community’s embrace of earth’s abode and Heaven’s favor.
One: Peace be with you!
All: And also with you! {Ken Sehested}
Benediction
One: Among the memory prods in every tragedy’s aftermath is this reminder of the Spirit’s directives—
All: About whose presence we must foster,
One: About which whereabouts we must locate,
All: Whether the season calls for laughter or lament,
One: Whether patience or militance is called for, caressing hand or shaking fist.
All: Only after this interrogation can our speaking and silence, our moving and stillness, put us in the position to see and know what is to be done,
One: With whom it is to be done, in what place and time it is to be done,
All: And by what authority we proceed.
One: In and through our penitence, grant the bounty of grace and the risk of resolve.
All: Resolve to break the silence; to remember afresh; to hope that is stronger than fear; to persevere beyond fatigue.
One: You shall know the truth, beloveds, and the truth will make you odd!
All: So may it be, from henceforth and evermore. {Ken Sehested}
Postlude
“Finally brother after a while / The battle will be over / For that day when we shall lay down our burden / And study war no more.” —“Study War,” Moby
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