Praying for Peace and Justice on June 07, 2026
Let us pray.
I took a solitary morning walk along the river in Piscataway Park yesterday, and like all animals do, I took note of my surroundings. So in the course of the hour I noticed a red fox standing at the edge of the path; a low-flying eagle; two rabbits hopping into the grass; a pair of nesting ospreys; a small family of Canada geese; scores of redwing blackbirds; two zebra swallowtail butterflies; and other creatures, all just living their lives. As I know many of you also do, I delighted in this; but my delight was punctuated by familiar little stabs of grief, because one reason I noticed all these animals was that they were deliberately moving away from the approach of me, the human.
This dovetailed with something I’ve been thinking about lately—all the nonhuman animals harmed by war, who, like people in war zones, can no longer just live their lives. They lose access to food, shelter, water, and medical care; watch their loved ones being killed; become confused and bereft, and suffer in myriad ways:
- Companion dogs and cats left are behind when their people must flee, or are killed
- Cows, sheep, chickens, and other animals raised for food are abandoned and die of starvation or bombardment
- All sorts of animals are trapped in zoos with no way to escape
- Wild animals must flee bombing and shelling and the destruction or contamination of their homes
- Birds whose migration patterns are disrupted never quite recover
All these animals and more are wounded by the tools of war and suffer physically and psychologically. I pray for these victims of war and the organizations and people who render aid as members of emergency response teams in conflict zones providing evacuations, emergency medical care, raising awareness, supporting local responders, and much more.