Peace

Looking Back 80 Years Later!

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
Surrender ceremony on USS Missouri on September 2, 1945

Eighty-years-ago today
my dad looked back as if to say,
“Do not forget what happened here
that calls to mind world peace!”

Dad’s haunting stare invites our glance
as we recall a grave expanse
of small white crosses where the brave
lie buried six feet down.

Today’s a day to hold our breath
and pray for peace while senseless death’s
a way of life day after day
in Gaza and Ukraine.

May mem’ries made in Tokyo Bay
revisit us this solemn day
as we reflect on what it takes
to practice war no more.

* My father was a nineteen-year-old Marine on the Mighty Mo the day the surrender ending World War 2 was signed. He is seen in the lower right-hand corner of an historic photograph looking back toward the photographer.

Below is a link to a post on Facebook by SQuire Rushnell, the creator of the Godwinks phenomenon:
https://www.facebook.com/Godwinks/posts/pfbid02JvsEyzewPwY2mQokzpEYCdySJRSyx4z6PB8hrGHis72M5iYvmxQMG4wKACZRkttgl

In addition to each week’s post on this website, Greg Asimakoupoulos offers daily video devotionals on his YouTube channel. Here is a sample video. If you are interested in receiving these devotionals Monday through Friday, you can subscribe on Greg’s channel.

Let’s Hear It for Bridges!

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
A floating bridge connects Mercer Island to downtown Seattle

We are islands of opinions
separated by our views
and the isolation that results is wrong.
Our beliefs reflect our values
and determine how we’ll vote,
yet the way we live together makes us strong.

Where I live is on an island.
But a bridge from here to there
means I am not left alone with just my thoughts.
I’m connected and am able
to both listen and to speak
and I’ve found I like this interchange a lot.

Don’t you think we need more bridges
to encourage ebb and flow
in a culture where it’s your way or it’s mine?
Building bridges to each other
will allow for give and take
in a world where easy answers rarely rhyme.

In addition to each week’s post on this website, Greg Asimakoupoulos offers daily video devotionals on his YouTube channel. Here is a sample video. If you are interested in receiving these devotionals Monday through Friday, you can subscribe on Greg’s channel.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
A call to pray for the conflict in the Middle East

If you listen, you can hear it.
Agonizing screams.
Haunting groans.
Heaving sighs.
And the whys are easily answered.

Once again Rachel is weeping for her children.
As in ancient times,
she refuses to be comforted.
And for good reason.
Her heart is broken in a million shards of sorrow.
There is brutality and bloodshed.
There is pain and suffering.
There are unprecedented atrocities.
The stench of death dominates the domain of Jacob’s descendants.

In the “City of Peace,”
there is no peace.
In a nation that once flowed with milk and honey,
there is bitterness and hate.
The Promised Land is a region of broken promises.
Sibling rivalry is taking a deadly ungodly toll.

Yes, the sons of Abraham are fighting each other as before.
And this dysfunctional family will likely destroy itself
unless peace-loving people
look for creative ways to broker a settlement.

For a place to which all of Abraham’s progeny lay claim,
let us pray.
Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

A Prayer for Peace

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
Let there be peace on earth… and let it begin with me!

Do you remember
this is the day
that Earth Wind and Fire
inked in red
with their unforgettable hit “September?”

And lest we forget,
let me remind you
that today is also
the International Day of Peace.

On this twisting and turning planet
where politicians are poles apart
and the magnetic pull of pride draws
unnecessary lines in the sand,
join me in praying for peace today…

“May peace prevail on earth we ask.
Help us, dear God, to own our task
admitting when we know we’re wrong
and righting what we can.

May we commit to speak the truth
refraining from what is uncouth.
And may we listen with both ears
to those whose truth we’ve shunned.

May kindness punctuate our days
as we eschew our former ways
of getting even for some pain
another might have caused.

May tolerance and compromise
cause folks to see Christ in our eyes
as we determine every day to love as Jesus loved.

And may Saint Francis‘ prayer for peace
leap from our lips and never cease
to codify what we desire:
to be God’s instruments.“


And speaking of SEPTEMBER by Earth, Wind and Fire, enjoy!

“Peace, Be Still!”

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
A poignant photo of a solitary sailboat on Puget Sound

Adrift upon a stormy sea,
I hear the Savior say to me:
“I’ll calm the winds and churning waves!
I’ll quell your anxious soul!

“The winds and waves obey my voice
and so can you. But it’s your choice:
to cave to your anxiety
or cast your cares on Me.

“I’ll be your anchor in the storm.
Though drenched by fear, I’ll keep you warm.
And though it seems you’re all alone,
I’m with you all the time.

“Peace, be still!”

* I dedicate this poem to the memory of Clyde Warford who used to sing “Master, the Tempest is Raging” at church when I was a student at Wenatchee High School.