Friday, July 08, 2005
written for church newsletter
I write on Friday and the events of the last hours in London have left us shocked and numbed. Once again our world is rocked by a terrible act of violence. It can be hard to know what to say and how to pray.
At such times, when I am looking for words to express my feelings, I turn to the Psalms. There we find prayers for all of life. There are prayers for happy days, when life is good and makes sense and we feel on top of our game (like Psalm 1 or 8 or 133). There are prayers for surprising days, when God turns up in totally unexpected days (like Psalm 40 or 93).
And there are prayers for sad days. At such times, Psalms like 13 or 137 allow us to be honest with God and ourselves, to voice our feelings of hurt, suffering, death and loss. To express our longing for justice and peace.
)
Our worship leader on Sunday called us to prayer for the terrorists – lost in their destruction but (those that are alive)loved by God. My personal challenge was how to bring this home when I was sitting with a lady who’s extranged husband was sitting behind us – a Dv situation where his church attendance is part of the control from my point of view. What would Jesus do in that situation – help her keep safe and pray for him – thats as far as I’ve got today!!
Comment by Jo — July 11, 2005 @ 4:59 pm