At the same time the faithful were gathering at Hometown Friends Church, Cindy and I were walking to the National Zoo to take pictures of the pandas.

When we got into our 10th floor hotel room last night and looked out the window, there was the well-lit Nation Cathedral majestically sitting on the skyline within walking distance. After seeing the pandas today we walked to the Cathedral. We sat in on a portion of a service. As we walked in, Cindy hesitated enough to pick up the following prayer off a table:

A Prayer for Peace

O God, We are not always as you intended us to be.

We are distracted by our own desires, but the things we want are not the things we need.

May our hearts, like yours, be pierced with sorrow for the evils of this world, so that we may stand as witnesses and as activists.

Help us dismantle the barriers that separate rich nations from poor nations so that we might be empowered to build together the just and peaceful world intended for us.