PRAYING FOR PEACE, WALKING IN LOVE
Practical Teaching for Living through Times of Unrest and Conflict
The war in the Middle East (on top of Ukraine) has shaken all of us. Everyone involved in these conflicts are our brothers and sisters in God, no matter what crimes they commit. We grieve for them, and for the victims of this violence, we grieve for the world. We are sad, afraid.
It is important that we turn to prayer.
It is important that we find ways now to walk in love in our everyday lives.
It is important to understand that our job as Christians is not to solve the world’s problems, but to offer the Solution. The solution is God’s presence in mercy and love which we offer to when we act in love, compassion, and truth. The solution remains valid and our intention to offer it remains our anchor, even it it seems to have little effect, or is rejected. Jesus was rejected before becoming Lord.
For PRAYER I suggest downloading prayers from the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Spend 10 minutes each morning. Light a candle. Prayer these prayers. We will be starting the services this Sunday with these prayers.
For WALKING IN LOVE:
Know your limits. It is tempting to think that by reading more and more news we are somehow caring for the situation, but this is not true. It’s likely the news will overwhelm you, and you do not need every update. Instead, we want to be at a place where we are attentive to what is immediately around us in our daily lives, and to be aware of this conflict in a background way. Then, whenever the conflict arises in our minds, we offer it to God. We thus find ourselves praying for the world. Much in this conflict stems from sin and we need to be on guard that this does not create despair in us.
Tune in to what is beautiful and good, particularly relationships. Part of walking this way with the world in its pain is ALSO tuning in to what is beautiful and good and being strengthened by it. Know where you are fed and strengthened and choose that to support you. This is critical. Give thanks for God’s gifts and savor them. We oscillate between the good and the painful.
Commit to compassion. Tune in to moments and ways in everyday life when you can offer someone attention, care, compassion, shared delight. Choose small ways to enact God’s presence now in your relationships as you are able. Start small. Make this a commitment. Record in a journal your experience of this.
Slow down. Eliminate haste. Renounce Hurry. Love does not, cannot rush. We cannot be people of prayer and walking in love if we are galloping from task to task. The more we rush in our lives, the more we are cut off from the presence of God and flow of love. Take a day and decide that on this day, for the whole day, you are going to RENOUNCE HURRY. You are going to FAST, for one day, from all hurry. See what this is like.
Come to church on Sunday, or Wednesdays at noon, or online during the week. There is power in being together as the people of God praying together for God’s healing and mercy to cover us and our world. There is power in our repenting and asking for forgiveness. There is power in our lives being made part of Jesus’ life, our deaths in his death, our mission from his resurrection. There is power in being sent out from communion to enact that love.
Blessings,
Robert+