World in Prayer

This Week’s Prayer

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, January 23, 2020

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Dear God,

Sometimes it feels that this world is full of so much chaos that we forget to take the time to talk to you even when we try to do the work you are calling us to do. As we come to you in these moments, we ask for your presence both in our own lives and for those who feel so far from you.  We ask that you help us to spread justice in a world which is in so much need of peace.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, this week in the U.S. we celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a number of different ways. Some of us attended services and lectures to commemorate his life. Others read his speeches or read books to our children to remind us of the racism in our world which does not reflect the love and peace you call us to. As we leave this week behind, we ask that you help us to bring these calls to act into the rest of the year so that we might be better doers of justice in your world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence all over China where an awful outbreak of the Coronavirus has killed your dear children. We ask for your presence there with both those suffering and those who feel trapped, knowing that they may fall ill because of this terrible illness. May the illness cease and may healing come to your children.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We remember this week the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As we remember this horror, we ask that you continue to instill in us love for all people and a willingness to stand up for all of your children. We ask for your presence and your love to overshadow such immense hate and lead us into being justice doers in such a broken world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence in Australia where the fires do not cease, and your beautiful creation continues to be destroyed. We ask that you be with your dear people who are now rendered homeless and for those who are continually hurt by the blazes. We ask that you help us to remember your dear children during this time.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, there are so many things that, although may be out of mind to some of us, are very real and horrific experiences in the lives of your children. Help us to listen more and to remember to continually do justice and spread love and peace in this often broken world.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

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World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, January 23, 2020

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Dear God,

Sometimes it feels that this world is full of so much chaos that we forget to take the time to talk to you even when we try to do the work you are calling us to do. As we come to you in these moments, we ask for your presence both in our own lives and for those who feel so far from you.  We ask that you help us to spread justice in a world which is in so much need of peace.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, this week in the U.S. we celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a number of different ways. Some of us attended services and lectures to commemorate his life. Others read his speeches or read books to our children to remind us of the racism in our world which does not reflect the love and peace you call us to. As we leave this week behind, we ask that you help us to bring these calls to act into the rest of the year so that we might be better doers of justice in your world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence all over China where an awful outbreak of the Coronavirus has killed your dear children. We ask for your presence there with both those suffering and those who feel trapped, knowing that they may fall ill because of this terrible illness. May the illness cease and may healing come to your children.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We remember this week the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As we remember this horror, we ask that you continue to instill in us love for all people and a willingness to stand up for all of your children. We ask for your presence and your love to overshadow such immense hate and lead us into being justice doers in such a broken world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence in Australia where the fires do not cease, and your beautiful creation continues to be destroyed. We ask that you be with your dear people who are now rendered homeless and for those who are continually hurt by the blazes. We ask that you help us to remember your dear children during this time.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, there are so many things that, although may be out of mind to some of us, are very real and horrific experiences in the lives of your children. Help us to listen more and to remember to continually do justice and spread love and peace in this often broken world.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs. January 16, 2020

Dear Friends in Prayer,

Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights? When, after three hours of perfectly wonderful, refreshing sleep, you are suddenly awake, wide awake, for no apparent reason? And when, despite watching a couple of shows on your Kindle Fire (or whatever you resort to during wakeful hours), your mind is still filled with the fires in Australia…. the opioid crisis…  the volcanoes erupting in the Philippines and Mexico…. the families being separated at the border between the U.S. and Mexico…. the refugees being rejected from more countries than we can count…. hungry, homeless people… hard-working families, struggling to pay their monthly bills… people with pre-existing health conditions, unable to pay their medical bills… police and military people and first responders committing suicide because of what they have seen and heard and done… children living day-to-day with food insecurity… wars and threats of war in Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and other countries… teenagers being bullied by someone who is telling them they are not enough…. people fleeing gang violence in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras… poor women seeking family planning advice and unable to find it because clinics are being closed… preschoolers with no one to read to them because everyone in their family is working so hard just to stay above water, or never had a chance to learn to read themselves… LGBTQ teens being rejected by their families for being who they are… churches whose doors are narrow and their welcome conditional…. extremist religions like the “Christian” sect in Panama that killed seven indigenous persons in a ritual intended to force them to “repent their sins”… the oceans being polluted with our discarded plastics…. the discovery that the million+ common murres (seabirds) that died between 2015 and 2016 probably were killed by a blob of hot water in the Pacific Ocean (what will global warming do to our furred and finned and feathered friends?)…. those who continue to deny climate change, in spite of the increasing evidence and the warnings of environmental scientists… the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump…. Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to wrest control from the Russian government and turn the country into a dictatorship… the 2020 elections which will determine the paths of our countries for years to come….

Did you ever have one of those nights when every attempt at prayer seems to fall on empty ears…. when God seems far away and you feel very alone? And when you utter the Serenity Prayer for the tenth time, and find that your heart and mind are settling in, and you finally feel bathed in, encompassed by God’s grace, and sleep feels possible once again?

If you have, dear friend, know you are not alone…. That the writer of this week’s prayers, and all who pray them, and many other wayfaring pilgrims have been and are with you in the darkness, holding out a trembling hand to clasp yours, and together, we’ll make it through the night, God-in-flesh for each other.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – January 9, 2020

Dear God,

While we know you hold onto us, and we know that you are there during every moment of our lives, we also live with so much fear. Fear for the planet, fear for all people around the world, fear for our friends and family, fear for the places we live, and fear for our own lives. There is so much to be afraid of and yet we still know that you are here with us. We ask for your presence to wash over us now.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the innocent everywhere. For those who suffer in solitude we ask that you be a companion. For those who don’t know where their next meal may come from, we ask for your presence. For those whose loved ones are dying around them, we ask that you be a blanket of comfort. For those who tremble in fear that they may lose their own lives, we ask that your peace be with them.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for your dear children in Australia as wildfires consume the land, homes, wildlife, and your dear people who suffer. We pray for the fires to be extinguished so that your beautiful land may remain as beautiful as it always has, and that you may keep your dear people blanketed with safety.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask for your presence in Puerto Rico as an earthquake has caused two-thirds of Puerto Rico to be without electricity. As your children sit in darkness we pray for safety and for your light to shine.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, we pray for the immense unrest in Iran as your dear people sit in fear for their lives. We ask that your peace may overshadow the violence. We pray for swift guidance of those in political power as decisions are made.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask that you be with all of those who lost one of their dear people as a Boeing airplane heading to Ukraine crashed in Iran killing 176 of your dear children. We ask for your presence as we sit with this tragedy. While we will never know the terror that your people felt, we ask that those who passed may rest in your love.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, there is so much to fear in this world and we don’t always have the words to express the terror we feel. We ask that you quiet our fears in a world in which we have so much to be fearful. We are so grateful Lord for the times of peace and moments when we can celebrate your love. As many celebrated Epiphany this past week, we remember the light of the star which directed the magi. Help us to shine the light you give to each of us. May your light outshine the fears we feel and give us our ultimate strength in you.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – January 2, 2020

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
James 1:17

Oh Lord, there are many things that concern us and call us to prayer.

We open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder.

We pray for those who rage and are quick to anger, for those who seem to be eaten up by intolerance. We pray for those who express their contempt and fury in violence to themselves and others. We grieve at those who have lost their lives to aggression due to fighting, war, criminal violence, and terrorism. We call out the names of nations so rife with conflict, so often in the news — Afghanistan, Mexico, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, South Sudan, India, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We call out the nations that make the weapons of war that fuel decades-long conflict and destruction: US, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, China, the United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, and the Netherlands and many more. Help us to see beyond the headlines to stand up for the women and children, the families, the victims, those starving and displaced. We call out for your mercy. Safeguard the journalists who bring the news, relate the stories of the imprisoned, the refugee, those made invisible by war, bigotry, and hatred. Safeguard the whistleblowers. Sustain us as we examine our own hearts, shed our own contempt and learn the practice of peacemaking in our homes and communities.

This season can be a time of anxiety as well as anticipation. We can sense tension and disharmony instead of peace. Many feel depression and despair instead of wellbeing and belonging. Help us to understand and accept those who suffer in mind, body, and spirit. They may be close or far away. Help us to learn compassion and to practice generosity, consideration, kindness and mutual regard. We pray for those who are without homes, who are estranged from their families who feel alone and isolated. May we grow in our practice of charity and give beyond counting. Guide each of us to do the right thing in our own special way for the need is great.

As the past year turns into this new decade in the tumultuous millennium help us to shed despair and the sense of heaviness that the need is unending and insurmountable. Sustain us with the words of healing. May we be reminded that around the world literacy is increasing, childhood deaths are declining and people are being lifted out of deep poverty as never before known.

May the hope born in Advent light the way through the minutes, hours, days and months to come.

May your love-come-down-among-us strengthen and steady our steps, telling us that we are not alone.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 26th December 2019

As we approach the end of another year, we tend to reflect and look back over the last year or decade but unless this informs our choices and behaviours going forward it is in danger of being an empty and futile activity. So many have expressed frustration, anger or disconnectedness with the political process in so many countries for a variety of reasons but there is an upsurge in an expressed awareness of our shared humanity and planet and the need to protect this for our future survival. 

Lord God, hear us and guide us to open our hearts and minds to follow you rather than the latest demagogue or social media influencer.

In the Incarnation, you came as a helpless baby, in an occupied country, to a skilled artisan and his fiancée, not even married.  The family became refugees to save your life. No palace or big country pile, no soft, cushy number but a life of graft and community, growing and learning; but it had purpose, dignity, time spent building a relationship with you, love and service. Galilee was not a high status and sought out part of the country, but in the difficulties and challenges Jesus grew in years, knowledge and understanding. Lord, more people in the world today experience similar circumstances than the much vaunted and sought-after high income, high consumption, cushioned life of the powerful and elites. 

Lord God, forgive us when we fail to recognise and value the dignity and humanity of all who share our small planet. So easily anything could happen to any of us, if not already done so.

: those who are homeless.

: those living with physical or mental illness or addictions.

: those struggling to make ends meet and even put food on the table, clothes on their backs, heating and lighting, clean water and sanitation, education for their children, health care and safety from violence.  We name among them those in Yemen, the refugees and stateless in Europe, Mexico, the Asian sub-continent. 

: our neighbors, when often their distress is hidden behind closed doors 

: those who slip through the safety nets (where they exist) for those in need, 

: those out of work and finding jobs hard to find especially ones which provide regular  income and a sense of worth and dignity; we name those in Iraq freed from ISIS but feeling abandoned by the corruption endemic in their government systems relying on charitable micro start-ups.

: those facing economic and natural disasters. Among them those in Australia, the US, the Philippines, Greenland, Vanuatu and other low-lying countries in Micronesia.

: those suffering injustice and living in fear or war; including Chile, Yemen, Syria, and Myanmar

: the seemingly world-wide endemic of violence against women and girls: we give thanks for those highlighting this and struggling to make changes often at great personal danger and cost in India, France, Spain, and so many other countries.

: those in power who seek self-aggrandisement at the expense of belittling and dehumanising others who generally have less access to the megaphone of the media. 

  We give thanks for the courage and endurance of those politicians, lawyers, community advocates and others of faith and none shining the light of truth challenging these life-sapping deceits. We name among others those in China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela, the UK, the US, Mexico.


Lord God, we pray that the way of the Prince of Peace may prevail. This newborn babe, grew into the Servant King living daily in his actions and attitudes the equal worth and vulnerabilities of all people springing from a love for all, and all your creation. 

We give thanks for the many who share their time, energy, gifts and skills in enabling others to survive and hopefully start to achieve their God-given potential.

May the hope brought by the Incarnation inspire us. 

May the joy of the new-life witnessed by so many, give us optimism and the challenge of a new way of living the future.

In the words of one of the verses of the Austrian carol, “Still, still, still”,

“Love, love, love. No greater love than his;
While ‘Christ the Lord’ the angels name him,
We with fervent hearts acclaim him.
Love, love, love. No greater love than his.”

AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer – Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019

Sure on This Shining Night – Concordia Choir

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

-Poem by James Agee; musical setting by Morten Lauridsen (click on link above)

Sure on this shining night, when tenderness descends among us,
may the unexpected advent of God among us as a tiny child
disturb our complacency, even as it fills us with wonder.

Sure on this shining night, when joy fills the stars,
may the promise of God always beside us
sustain and strengthen our hope through the years to come.

Sure on this shining night, when our hearts rise up singing,
may the delight of welcoming the new-born Son
renew us to cherish every human being as Christ himself.

Sure on this shining night, when our hearts yearn to receive Him,
may the assurance of God’s Love
commit us to making this world, these nations, these seas and skies and lands,
into a home fit for God’s own self.

And the blessing of God be upon us, this day and always.

As is our custom on Christmas, we pause in naming the pressing concerns of the world to invite your prayers upon all those in every nation on earth:

A – C

Afghanistan … Albania … Algeria … Andorra … Angola … Antigua and Barbuda … Argentina … Armenia … Australia … Austria … Azerbaijan … The Bahamas … Bahrain … Bangladesh … Barbados … Belarus … Belgium … Belize … Benin … Bhutan … Bolivia … Bosnia and Herzegovina … Botswana … Brazil … Brunei … Bulgaria … Burkina Faso … Burundi … Cabo Verde … Cambodia … Cameroon … Canada … Central African Republic … Chad … Chile … China … Colombia … Comoros … Congo, Democratic Republic of the … Congo, Republic of the … Costa Rica … Côte d’Ivoire … Croatia … Cuba … Cyprus … Czech Republic

D – J

Denmark … Djibouti … Dominica … Dominican Republic … East Timor (Timor-Leste) … Ecuador … Egypt … El Salvador … Equatorial Guinea … Eritrea … Estonia … Eswatini … Ethiopia … Fiji … Finland … France … Gabon … The Gambia … Georgia … Germany … Ghana … Greece … Grenada … Guatemala … Guinea … Guinea-Bissau … Guyana … Haiti … Honduras … Hungary … Iceland … India … Indonesia … Iran … Iraq … Ireland … Israel … Italy … Jamaica … Japan … Jordan

K – M

Kazakhstan … Kenya … Kiribati … Korea, North … Korea, South … Kosovo … Kuwait … Kyrgyzstan … Laos … Latvia … Lebanon … Lesotho … Liberia … Libya … Liechtenstein … Lithuania … Luxembourg … Madagascar … Malawi … Malaysia … Maldives … Mali … Malta … Marshall Islands … Mauritania … Mauritius … Mexico … Micronesia, Federated States of … Moldova … Monaco … Mongolia … Montenegro … Morocco … Mozambique … Myanmar (Burma)

N – S

Namibia … Nauru … Nepal … Netherlands … New Zealand … Nicaragua … Niger … Nigeria … North Macedonia … Norway … Oman … Pakistan … Palau … Panama … Papua New Guinea … Paraguay … Peru … Philippines … Poland … Portugal … Qatar … Romania … Russia … Rwanda … Saint Kitts and Nevis … Saint Lucia … Saint Vincent and the Grenadines … Samoa … San Marino … Sao Tome and Principe … Saudi Arabia … Senegal … Serbia … Seychelles … Sierra Leone … Singapore … Slovakia … Slovenia … Solomon Islands … Somalia … South Africa … Spain … Sri Lanka … Sudan … Sudan, South … Suriname … Sweden … Switzerland … Syria

T-Z

Taiwan … Tajikistan … Tanzania … Thailand … Togo … Tonga … Trinidad and Tobago … Tunisia … Turkey … Turkmenistan … Tuvalu … Uganda … Ukraine … United Arab Emirates … United Kingdom … United States … Uruguay … Uzbekistan … Vanuatu … Vatican City … Venezuela … Vietnam … Yemen … Zambia … Zimbabwe

World News This Week in Prayer — Thursday, 12 December 2019

During this season of Advent, this season of waiting, we are called to anticipate the fulfillment of God’s reign. Advent is a chance for each one of us to practice the reign of God in the way we meet and treat one another. As we prepare for this time of prayer, let us anticipate the coming light.

Holy God, our hope, we rejoice that your word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we long for your reign. As we wait, our hearts overflow with gratitude for the beauty of your creation and for signs of peace and reconciliation.

We lift our hearts in thanks for the inspiration that Greta Thunberg has been to so many and celebrate with her as she has been named Time Magazine’s Person of the year. We value the hope that she has encouraged across the globe as we work to honor and restore your planet more and more.

We feel joy and expectation as the world’s first fully-electric commercial aircraft took flight for 15 minutes over Vancouver, Canada this week.

As we celebrate the coming of Jesus as a poor, helpless child, we also yearn for the day when there will be no more sorrow or pain.

We lift our hearts in prayer for the small South Pacific nation of Samoa, where a measles outbreak has infected 83 people and killed 71 people to date. We pray for your help and healing.

Even as we make strides toward preserving your earth, we remember the many victims of natural disasters. We pray for the people of New Zealand, where the Whakaari volcano erupted with at least 47 visitors from around the world on the White Island, some of whom have died and many of whom are in intensive care. We also pray for those affected by the landslides on the South Island, which has left thousands stranded. We pray that all affected are met with aid and support.

As we pray for justice and peace, we lift up the United States, where two articles of impeachment have been filed against President Trump. We also pray for the victims of a shooting in Jersey City, NJ where six people were killed and others injured. May your people move forward with a sense of hope and purpose.

O God, whose will is equity for the poor and aid for the afflicted, let your herald’s voice break through our hardened hearts to announce the coming of your kingdom. We know there are wonderful and terrible things happening in the world around us, and we are grateful to have a faith with room to hold it all, and room to hold us all. We pray that our complacency gives way to conversion, oppression to justice, and conflict to acceptance of one another in Christ. We ask this in the name of the one whose coming we celebrate this season, and whose life we strive to model in all seasons.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer — Thursday, 5 December 2019

We open our hearts to you, God of compassion, God of power,

Because we know we need your creative power and precision of language when we speak, we need to learn the voice of clarity, to see with vision, to hear with discretion and act with generosity.

In this season of hyper-charged commercialism, ever attempting to smother the celebration of the birth of the Christ child with mountains of trinkets and toys, we pray for discernment. May we spend our time building up our friendships and a larger sense of community. May we spend our money in ways that enlarge the lives of those around us and benefit those who receive funds through charities.

You give us prophets. Help us resist the temptation to convert them to profits.

You have given us your Son; we pray you teach us to follow Him.

As children we learned to sing, “O be careful, little eyes, what you see,” as a reminder that where our attention goes, our efforts follow. When we see the climate shocks affecting Africa today and all over this world, we pray you guide our eyes to look at the evidence of scientists and fieldworkers to spare extinctions and destructive events. As polar bears starve due to lack of sea ice habitat in the Arctic circumpolar world, show us what we must do to keep your beautiful earth safe for all life.

There is another verse warning, “O be careful, little ears, what you hear.” We need to shut off the noise, the corrosive example of politicians who demean themselves and each other with name-calling. If our radios and televisions are mainly inflaming us, give us the wisdom and strength to turn down these devices. If our meetings are frustrating us give us the wisdom to listen and take right action. If our conversations are filled with cynicism and complaint, help us to find better topics. When we are tempted to repeat criticisms of others, be they neighbors or elected officials or respected leaders, give us pause to reflect on whether we are doing your will.

Most of all we pray as in the children’s verse that you guide our “feet” to humble stables, where homes and shelters are nourishing children’s hopes. Inspire us to find our way living out Christ’s examples of kindness and compassion.

We pray that we become part of the prospering of institutions such as Berea College U.S.A. with more than a century of success in providing excellent education to students who have everything they need to benefit from excellent education except money.

We pray that we form the support that is needed by Greta Thunberg of Sweden and youth around this globe as they confront climate change.

We pray for strength as we hear that Jewish graves in the Alsace region of France are desecrated. Strengthen us to be part of the resistance and investigation of hate crimes.

This world is a wonderful place. We thank you for it and for our own opportunities therein. Bless us as we take up what it is we are to do. Show us our work in this.  Correct us when we need it. Lift us up when we grow weak. Help us to spread the joy of an abundant life in all times.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 28 November 2019

Father God, are we there yet?
We are between the last Sunday of the year and the first – are we nearly there yet?

“The days are coming” (book of Jeremiah) – are we nearly there yet?
We are between the new beginning and end of the last new beginning – are we nearly there yet?

For those who challenge us all to leave our comfort and engage, we give thanks.
We have made a start on changing our world view, making poverty history, fighting against “one answer fits all” – are we nearly there yet?

When the emergency service personnel brave floods and wonder if it will stop raining – are we nearly there yet?  We pray with the people of  Cote d’azur, France and Savonna, Italy

When the firefighters brave the flames and wonder if it will stop burning – are we nearly there yet?
We pray with the people of New South Wales, Australia and Santa Barbara, California.

When the rescuers brave the aftershocks and struggle to reach trapped people – are we nearly there yet?
We pray with the people of Albania.

When there is lack of equality and justice for all, intensify out desire to support those who are blocked from their established way – are we nearly there yet?   We pray with the Uighar people; with those caught in the tension across the Uganda / Rwanda border.

Child-like we want the journey to be over, to get to the exciting bit at the end, asking are we nearly there yet?   This time of Thanksgiving in the USA reminds us of all those, down the years who have made a journey and gave thanks when it was over.   For those brave enough to set out on the search for new lands, new places, new cultures, we give thanks.   For those who help, rescue and introduce them to the new, we give thanks.    We pray with those whose travel plans for thanksgiving have been disrupted by winter storms.

Father, there are many things for which we give thanks, but most of all we give thanks for the privilege of talking to you in prayer and for your patience as we demand that world is set right immediately “are we nearly there, yet?”

Patient God, supporting brother, mothering spirit, these and many more are our prayers, all praise and thanks for hearing, receiving and answering.  Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 21 November 2019

Ever-present God,
as we come to the end of another liturgical year,
we remember and celebrate the present and coming kingship of Christ.

We anticipate the coming day
when the prophetic words of scripture are fulfilled
and we work, diligently,
to co-create a world where all people are loved and respected.

Yet, we are perplexed by the struggles,
the incongruity, the brokenness,
which is so virulent and rampant in the world.

It seems the stories of pain, violence, and despair
extend from the walls of our own homes
and into every corner of the world.

Our hearts break at the news of yet more shootings in the United States
in Santa Clarita, Fresno, Duncan, and other towns.

We are shocked to hear of 25 people discovered hidden on a ferry bound for the United Kingdom.

We are saddened to hear of the death of Boglaetch Gebre,
a renowned Ethiopian Women’s Rights Activist
who sought to end the practice of genital mutilation.

Our breath catches in our throats at the news
of the highest deforestation rate in a decade in the Amazon
with an increase of 29.5% over last year.

Uncertainty swirls in the aftermath
of protests-turned-violent in China at
Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Fear rises with the death toll in Bolivia
following a contested election in October.

And many more personal griefs and fears:
friends undergoing amputations and broken limbs,
neighbors facing financial and legal trouble,
colleagues who do not see a way to retire with grace.

The fear, grief, and pain can feel insurmountable.

Yet, if we have the eyes to see
and the ears to hear,
there is hope on the horizon.

Infants are welcomed into the world,
bringing hope and change.

US citizen Kevin King and Australian citizen Timothy Weeks
were released by the Taliban after being held for three years.

France returned the sword of Omar Saidou Tall,
a west African ruler who led an anti-colonial struggle against the French in the 1850s,
to Senegal’s President Macky Sall.

Open our eyes,
Ruler of All,
so that we might see and sense your presence,
in the midst of grief and pain,
AND in the middle of joy and celebration.

Empower us,
Holy One,
to work for the wholeness and healing you promise,
as we proclaim the reign
of your son and our savior,
Jesus Christ.

In whose name we pray,
Amen.