NMCP Chaplains Offer Peace and Unity Prayer Service

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Myers | 181106-N-IY469-031 – Cmdr. Paul Greer, deputy command chaplain, offers closing prayer and benediction. “I would like to thank you for joining us today to come together as people of prayer and as a faith community, and as brothers and sisters, and as those who work day in and day out with each other,” Greer said. “This is an important step, but it is not a final step. It’s the reminders that call to us to live out our faith and to be people of intercessory prayer every day. If there’s ever a time that we need our nation, it’s now. In our congregations, as we are here on Sundays, people we talk to day in and day out as chaplains, that’s a common theme that we hear from them and it’s a common prayer request that we get so we share this burden together as brothers and sisters. With that, I invite you to stand for our closing prayer and receive the benediction.”  

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

11.06.2018

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Myers 

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) chaplains offered a Peace and Unity Prayer Service in the Chapel of Comfort on Nov. 6 for staff, patients and guests.

“We were inspired to offer a prayer service because many don't know that as chaplains, we gather daily in prayer for the staff and patients; but we also realize that there is something very comforting and unifying knowing that you're not alone in difficult times and that someone else is sharing your burden in prayer for you,” said Cmdr. Paul Greer, deputy command chaplain.

“Over the past few weeks, we have received many prayer requests in our worship services, counseling sessions, through our prayer boxes, lay leaders and on the deckplates. The common theme we all heard was a request for prayers of peace and unity in our nation, as well as in our homes. This was an opportunity to bring people together and provide a way to exercise faith and offer hope.”

Recent national events that have highlighted violence, division and intolerance was one reason for Greer and fellow chaplains to offer the service. The other, it was Election Day.

“On an election day, it is a great reminder to appreciate differences, but moreover to focus on what we have in common which is the human spirit filled with dignity and respect,” Greer said.

Lt. Cmdr. Diego Londono, a resident chaplain, lead a prayer for those leaders of the nation.

“God of love, God of mercy, God of justice, we pray, oh Lord, your blessing upon the work of the representatives of our country,” Londono said. “Grant, oh Lord, our president, our national and local leaders and representatives wisdom, oh Lord from above, and a state of resolve to administer justice over the land and the people that have been appointed to lead. May they govern with wisdom and insight; may they lead with truth and courage.”

The service, which had approximately two dozen attendees and six chaplains offering prayers, served as a reminder that there is peace and unity when people come together.

“Because people are nervous everywhere, just sometimes turning on the news and people don’t have peace at work, so many things are going on that disturb unity,” said Lt. Cmdr. Christilene Whalen, a resident chaplain. “This was just a reminder that we all can agree to pray for one another and intercede on behalf of our nation, our leaders and each other, that there is a place of peace and unity when we pray.”

Each prayer offered a different message, a different theme, but the commonality was to come together in unity and exercise faith during a time of trouble.

“There’s no doubt that recent events have demonstrated wicked schemes of man,” said Greer. “We’ve seen it. Where those with different ideologies or views or skin color or even those who seek to worship peacefully, have come face-to-face with those who have evil intentions.
We see it in the world all around us. And those who’ve ripped peace out of the lives of so many in our nation, harming the very unity that God desires for his creation. The truth is that the unity we desire where, out of many, we come together as one.

“So the aftermath of Pittsburgh and so many countless events, from Charleston to Las Vegas, too many tragedies that we see in the news day-to-day,” Greer said. “It’s really out of great concern for our nation and communities that we join together to unify as we’ve been called by God to do, and to lift our voices in unison, interceding on behalf of our nation, our leaders, our fellow citizens, our houses of worship, and our very own homes.”

Whalen prayed for peace that creates unity, regardless of skin color, gender, religious preference and even political views. She prayed for unity where all people will agree and learn to disagree because everyone is human in God’s plan, created to love one another in spite of all the differences.

“I think, through the diversity of attendees and participants, we achieved the man-made goal of the event, but moreover, I believe the portals of heaven were opened and the Divine's heart was inspired by the prayers of the people in a way that creates movement to unification and peace among mankind,” Greer added. “It is our hope that today's prayer service is not a one-time opportunity, but rather a call for people of faith to be in daily intercessory prayer and a call to mindfulness for all to esteem others a little higher and to view them in light of God's unconditional love.”

• Date Taken: 11.06.2018
• Date Posted: 11.07.2018 13:53
• Story ID: 299118
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US