Saudi Arabia

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 28, 2017

Ex 31:16 “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.”(NIV)

Creator God, you give us every good and perfect gift. We celebrate the equinox so easily, the turning of the world and change of seasons, the seedtime and the harvest; our unique place in the solar system giving us truths that would not be easily discovered on other planets. We enjoy so much of this beauty – forgive us that we ignore your many other gifts.

You gave us the Sabbath to observe as a day of rest and to celebrate it for future generations, a good and perfect gift that we don’t see as such. The burden we place on future generations is to work, continuously, with no space for the holy. We think “the work ethic” means we must work all 168 hours of a week; we think we must take our e-devices everywhere, even on holiday, even in the bath, for fear that we are weighed in the balance and found wanting by our employers. When we are self-employed it becomes even worse, unable to take time for ourselves and our family just in case we miss out on a contract, the perfect job. Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we take a Sabbath’s rest to keep it holy and learn to love ourselves?

And then, we see the news of the war of words between nations, especially between the US and North Korea, and cry “give it a rest”. When we hear that, against Israeli canvassing, Interpol has voted to admit the State of Palestine to membership, along with the Solomon Islands – Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we take a Sabbath’s rest and regain a more objective perspective?

Even within nations there is no rest: The Iraqis refusing to even discuss Monday’s referendum about Kurdish independence; the Spanish arresting all those officials who would run the coming referendum, disrupting any idea of Catalan independence. Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbor? Will it be when we celebrate our diversity as your people on earth?

We see the recurring devastation of Caribbean islands by storms, and the country of Mexico by earthquakes, and know there can be no rest until water, food and shelter are provided and the lost are found. As people flee the eruptions of Mount Agung on Bali, and Monaro on Vanuatu, Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we learn to share the labour and give each other respite care?

We fail to recognise that freedom of speech means other ethnicities within our own country can use it. When we see the ethnic cleansing and displacement of such as the Rohingya, then, Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we recognise the rights of other ethnicities?

When the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts announces 6 new member countries – Syria, Aruba, Azerbaijan and the State of Palestine as full members and Albania and Niger as associate members – and recognizes Arabic as another official language – then we celebrate, these are our neighbours. We see women in Saudi Arabia are finally allowed to drive, then we celebrate; when all refugees are finally resettled from Australia’s Manus Island Processing Center in Papua, New Guinea, then we can know these are our neighbours; when the great green wall across sub-Saharan Africa finally brings drought relief to the countries around Lake Chad, then all these are our neighbours and for future generations we can celebrate.

“… to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant … “ These are not your hopeful thoughts or wishful comments, Lord, these are your commands – that we learn to live together in covenant with you and our neighbour. May it be so.

World News in Prayer for Thursday, 7 September 2017

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. -Ps.119:34

The commandments…are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” -Romans 13:9-10

Abba, Father of each one of us wherever we are in this blue planet you created for us even as you created us, listen to the cries of our hearts. As I struggle with difficulties and issues in my life outside my control, they are but pale echoes of what others are experiencing. But for each of us, at times the darkness threatens to overwhelm us.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer hope and clarity about the path to take.

I feel such a deep, burning anger at the ecological disasters yet again affecting so many of the poorest communities in the Caribbean, India, Sri Lanka, the USA; at the suffering of so many without access to medicine, clean water, and food in Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and so many other countries. I am ashamed and appalled at the indifference and inaction of media and politicians. What can I, as one person on a limited income, do to tackle this other than pray, sign petitions to be presented to our seemingly-indifferent governments, make phone calls to my elected officials, send emails, write letters which never seem to get answered?

Jesus, you challenged the authorities by pointing to the difference between God’s laws and those of humankind.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer hope and clarity about the path to take.

At night, my sleep is broken as I hold up to You the prisoners of conscience disappeared without trace in numerous countries; the murder of so many such as Lauri Gankesh, an Indian female journalist and activist who spoke out against extremist Hindu violence; women and girls routinely sexually harassed and raped throughout the world and then being accused by males in positions of influence or power as ‘inviting it’; corruption in Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.- the list seems endless…

Jesus, you contravened the religious ‘correctness’ of man’s religious orthodoxy, preferring always to follow God’s revealed will and laws.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to follow your example.

So many hearts are breaking in the United States at the suspension of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the act put into place during the previous administration in 2012 to permit undocumented young people, brought to America by their parents, to remain in the country at their jobs or in school or with their families. Uncertainty grips Latino communities as the threat of deportation looms large, loving God, as families fear being torn apart, in the name of national security and immigration reform.

Jesus, you welcomed everyone, including all people into the embrace of your loving care, reflecting the all-encompassing and inclusive love of God.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to speak up for justice.

Why do we, your followers, call you The Servant King but try to emulate, admire, and promote the values of self-obsessed ‘successful leaders’? Lord, forgive us and have mercy on our twisted understanding. So often we proclaim and teach human traditions instead of yours. We give thanks for all who dare to follow You in love and service, abandoning themselves to your will.

Lead us from death to life, from fear to love, from despair to hope, trusting in You. God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to love our neighbor, whoever and wherever they are, as You love us. Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, June 22, 2017

Lord,

I can see the cherries ripening on the tree outside. The raspberries redden almost quicker than I can pick, but there are those for whom there will be no harvest. As sparrows happily investigate the fruit, they remind me, everyone is of more value than sparrows. Deep down we really know this, however much we demand to know where You are. So, we boldly pray for our world and all the events and circumstances which in such a brash way demand top billing in the news.

We pray for the people of Texas, Louisiana and all along the Ohio River Valley, U.S.A. and all of those who suffer from the effects of flash flooding and tornadoes from tropical storm Cindy.

We pray for the people of northern Britain where torrential thunderstorms follow summer heat.

We pray for the people of Portugal; the fire fighters, those killed, injured and those who care; as wildfire burns across their mountains.

We pray for the people of the Central African Republic where fighting continues a day after a ceasefire came into force.

We pray for the people of South Sudan who the world seems to have abandoned.

We pray for the people of Eastern Africa as drought deepens and now, as in Southern Africa crops are being threatened by the Fall Armyworms.

We pray for the people of the Middle East, today, thinking of Saudi Arabia with the announced change of crown prince, of Yemen with the continuing conflict, famine and now cholera, and of Qatar being blockaded and how all these events work together.

As Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan we pray for our Muslim neighbors; those caught in the car attack near the Finsbury Park mosque, London, U.K.; the sadness of Syria; the effect of a Kurdish independence vote on Iraq and for Iran and Turkey.

We pray for the Philippines as the Government continues its battles against ISIS and communist rebels. In doing so we cannot fail to think of the mounting pressures in the Korean peninsula; of the many conflicting claims around the South China Sea and of the asylum seekers held by the Australian government on Manus Island and Nauru.

We pray for the people of Venezuela as medical crisis and food shortages grip and for the people of Argentina where one in eight children suffers in poverty and food insecurity.

Lord, all this is happening as I sit here complaining that it’s too hot, on the hottest day in June for 40 years in Britain. Remind me that it’s not really that hot and there are many who would love it to be as cool as this! In all these situations and many more You are here asking what we are doing for we are worth more than sparrows. We give thanks that You hear our prayers and make them worthwhile.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – April 20, 2017

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1.3

Lord, giver of life, let us live our lives to the full, with humility, care and compassion and in your Son’s image. Let us forgive where forgiveness is sought. Let us strive to ease the burdens of others and in so doing lighten our own load. We ask of you in your infinite wisdom, to cherish us all in this world you created and protect those who cannot protect themselves. During this Easter season let us pray, as Jesus taught us, for our brothers and sisters around the world and remember the very power of that prayer.

We thank you Lord for the safe recovery of 6,000 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea last weekend and the continued efforts of those involved. Let our thoughts and prayers turn to all refugees whose lives are lived in the desperation of poverty, in the fear of illness and treatment, in the struggles for freedom and justice, in the weariness of war, and in the bleakness of despair. We imagine you, Holy God, seeing the precious lives of your loved ones in each nation, each with their own struggle and pray that if they, and we are your children, as was our risen Christ Jesus, that you help us to see clearly who and what we are to one another.

We pray for all those countries involved in continuing conflicts; for the violence in South Sudan where tens of thousands have been killed and thousands more are fleeing the border from targeted ethnic killings perpetrated by mostly government forces; for the rising tensions over North Korea where the United States is desperately seeking to solve and ease relations after a failed missile test on Sunday by the totalitarian regime, and for the ongoing conflict in Syria. As we hear that the death toll from a bomb attack on a crowded bus convey near Aleppo, Syria has reached at least 126, to include 68 children, we pray for those innocent souls caught up between the warring sides. Let us think of all countries’ service personnel in active duty around the world and ask that you will keep them safe until they return home to their families and those they love.

In Sri Lanka, we pray for those dead and missing from a landfill collapse which occurred as people celebrated their New Year and for the crew of a cargo ship that went down in heavy seas off the Black Sea coast near the Crimea. We pray for the five killed in a light aircraft crash near Lisbon, Portugal and for the 12 Saudi solders who died in a helicopter crash in Yemen. In the Philippines, we pray for the 24 people killed when a bus plunged into a deep ravine and for the three men fatally shot and another wounded in a suspected race attack in Fresno, California, US. Lord, have mercy on those who mourn, who feel numb and crushed, are filled with the pain of grief and whose strength has given up. Lord, in your steadfast love give us peace and courage and take away our fear through the dying and rising of Jesus your Son.

Father, may we feel and realize your presence in the coming week, and in the magnificent strength it commands, let us think of the stone of Christ’s tomb and as it was, so roll away the stones of illness, despair, worry and fear and pour the light and joy of his resurrection into our lives. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 29, 2016

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret – it leads only to evil. Psalm 37:5, 7-8, NRSV

We have seen this week yet again how the “law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous – therefore judgement comes forth perverted” (Habakkuk 1:4). Despite another scathing ruling by a human rights tribunal, the Canadian government is failing to rectify funding disparities for the delivery of First Nation on-reserve child welfare services. High suicide rates and violence against women are common in First Nations and Inuit communities like those in Alaska, USA. Similar injustices appear among vulnerable communities in India, the Asian sub-continent, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Lord, have mercy. Change the hearts of the perpetrators of these injustices, and bring them to repentance. Open our eyes and hearts to cruelty so that we might fight for justice and peace.

We hear so much of the continuing disputes in politics and election processes throughout the world. We pray that truth may triumph over the slick, media-savvy noise of those with political leverage. We pray for discernment for all those who are about to exercise their hard-won right to vote. May the ears of the world be open to the message of those struggling for equity and calling for justice. Lord, hear the voiceless. May your way of truth and justice and life be available to all.

We give thanks for people like:

Ten-year-old Zianna Oliphant, who rebuked authorities over police shootings in Charlotte, USA;
Rami Adham, a Finnish-Syrian father-of-six, who takes toys, medicine, and food to the besieged in Syria and builds schools in refugee camps;
Dr Ashwaq Muharram, who has used her own resources to provide food and medical aid to starving residents of Hudaydah, Yemen after international aid organisations withdrew from Yemen in 2015 and Saudi Arabia’s blockade tightens;
Josh Coombes, a hairdresser in London, England, who has offered free services to the homeless for the past year and has inspired others to follow his example including barber Jamie Richards of Aberdare, Wales;
Residents of Mureck, Austria, who set up a community garden project so locals, refugees, and migrants can get to know each other by planting roots together.

O God, you are our Creator, our Redeemer, our Saviour, and our Mother. Send your Spirit daily to empower us and fill us with grace. Whatever we may be facing, however overwhelmed we are, however angry and bitter over what we see as greed, injustice, hatred, fear, cruelty, and indifference, help us to commit our way to you, trust you, wait patiently for you, and know that, as we have seen repeatedly throughout history, you DO act, but in your own way and time. Lead us in YOUR way of peace, justice and love. Amen.

_______________

Note: World In Prayer is looking for a new web hosting service. We’ve been using A Small Orange for several years, but after they were purchased by another company, their formerly-exceptional customer service has become so unbearably atrocious that we need to switch, fast. If you are using a web hosting service that you can highly recommend (and is preferably under $100/year for non-profits), please drop us a note at worldinprayer@aol.com. Thanks!

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 15

O how wondrous
is the foreknowledge of the divine heart
that knew every creature in advance.
For when God looked upon the human face
that he had formed,
he glimpsed all his works,
in that same human form, all summed up.
O how wondrous is the inspiration
that has thus animated the human being.

Hildegard of Bingen, “O quam mirabilis”

Creator God, your love for us is apparent in the wonder and complexity with which we are made. We are created with endless diversity, each face distinct, each personality unique, and yet we all bear your divine image. The inspiration with which you breathed us into life is displayed in so many ways:

In the perseverance and strength of athletes during the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
In the persistence of rescue crews in Bukoba, Tanzania, who searched for survivors of an earthquake, and crews who worked in Taiwan and China to evacuate families and prepare for the arrival of Super Typhoon Meranti;
In the devotion of over 1.8 million Muslims who traveled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj pilgrimage;
In the compassion and courage of first responders in O Porrino, Spain, who worked to rescue victims of a deadly train crash, and in Tongi, Bangladesh, who battled a fire caused by a deadly factory explosion;
In the emerging hope for peace in Colombia, where FARC rebels have released a group of child soldiers and have promised to discontinue recruitment of children.

We know, Lord, that you rejoice with us when we embody the love and care for which you created us. And yet so often we fall short, seeing the gift of diversity as a threat and forgetting the divine image that we all possess. Fear, suffering, and broken relationships disfigure your divine image and damage your creation in so many ways:

In violent hate crimes perpetrated against Muslim mothers in New York, US and Bletchley, UK;
In a successful nuclear test in North Korea, which deepens tension among nations and adds to the number of nuclear-capable countries, including Russia, the US, France, China, the UK, Pakistan, India, and Israel;
In acts of terrorism designed to spread fear and perpetuate extremism in Minto, Australia; Shikarpur, Pakistan; and around the globe.

Forgive us for abandoning our primary identity as your beloved children. Bring hope and healing to our broken world. Give us strength and inspiration to look into the faces of our neighbors and see what you see: A glimpse of all your works, a glimpse of you.

Amen.

Note: Many Christians celebrate the feast of St Hildegard of Bingen on 17 September. Hildegard was a Benedictine nun and Christian mystic, writer, and composer in 10^th century Germany.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, February 11, 2016

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation.
Help us to recognize the temptations that surround us,
the subtle snares that, on their face, seem good:

The temptation to use violence and force to achieve peace and gentleness;
The temptation to see our perspective as truth and others as heresy;
The temptation to believe the best of ourselves and the worst of others.

We pray that, as we look at the world around us, we may recognize those temptations and resist their allure, so that we might serve the true Prince of Peace who is the source of Truth and Life.

We pray for peace in Syria and for comfort and safety for all those who have been displaced.

We pray for Mexico where a prison riot has left 52 dead.

We pray for Oregon in the United States as a militant group has surrendered after occupying a wildlife refuge for 41 days.

We pray for Saudi Arabia where a man shot and killed six employees in an education department office in the community of Ad Dair.

We pray for Nigeria where at least 56 people have been killed in a double suicide bombing at a camp sheltering people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

We pray for Taiwan as relief efforts in response to a 6.4-magnitude earthquake get under way.

We pray for Flint, Michigan (US), Palestine, and for all places in the world where there is not a safe supply of life-sustaining water.

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but beside streams of water that revive our soul, and guide us along right pathways for your Name’s sake. All this we ask through your son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, January 7, 2016

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;…”
“I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Do not be afraid, for I am with you;” Isaiah 43: 1 & 5

“Why did he come? He came down that we may have love, … peace, … joy.” Cameroon (Africa) Carol

As we celebrate the Baptism of Christ our Orthodox brothers and sisters, those of the Coptic Church in Egypt, Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa are celebrating Christmas (7th January). We give thanks for the insights and depth of spirituality they share with us giving differing insights into our shared faith. We pray for those suffering oppression in Egypt, Somalia and Ethiopia as well as those millions of Iraqi Christians together with many Muslims, Yazidis and other faith groups, forced to flee the barbaric violence of Islamic State fundamentalists. So many refugees are starving in Iraq, in Syria and so many other places in our beautiful shared blue planet. As you and your parents were refugees, spur us to care for our brothers and sisters who are homeless, jobless, lonely, without hope or resources – and children going barefoot and hungry, often in deep snow.

Why did you come? Lord, you came down that we may have peace. Let peace start where we are and with those around us and reach out to those in need. Lord, hear us and help us.

Lord, forgive us for misusing and twisting the wonderful truths you have revealed to us especially through the Incarnation. Help us to understand the radical re-thinking of what is powerful in your eyes, a life of love.

We give thanks for the inspired approach in Nigeria de-radicalizing Boko Haram members in prison using sport (banned by BH), simple math education and teaching them how to think for themselves and not just parrot-like repeat teachings whether religious or political. Continue to help all those working with people seduced by false messengers that truth and justice will prevail. We rejoice for all opportunities given to those who feel as though they are nothing. Help us to value each other, encourage and enable each of your children – regardless of creed, color, culture or gender – to be the best they possibly can be. We give thanks, too, for the efforts of President Obama of the US to increase the responsible ownership of guns and reduce the epidemic of killing, especially of our young people. Sometimes we find it hard to recognize the need to limit our own wishes or desires for the greater good of all, especially the voiceless.

Why did you come? Lord, you came down that we may have peace. Let peace start where we are and with those around us and reach out to those in need. Lord, hear us and help us.

A few days into a new year and already there is economic turmoil with chaos in the China market hitting global share values. Help us to make economic decisions based on justice and equity, without exploiting others less protected than ourselves so we can have greater “convenience” in food, clothes, technology, and so many areas of our lives. We give thanks that Pope Francis is fighting to abolish child labor wherever it takes place describing it as an “authentic plague” even when in Uganda some children, to pay for their schooling, are being exploited on church-owned land leased by tea companies. Help us with the complexities of life.

The news continues: different countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, representing separate strands of Islam, fight each other and seek to obtain Africa’s loyalty through trade agreements. In Libya, police recruits are bombed and murdered. China seeks to encroach on neighboring countries’ territories. Questions simmer over a possible North Korean hydrogen bomb explosion. And the routine violence against women is still a major issue in many parts of the world especially in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Remind us of “the apocalypse of God’s love”, in Archbishop Justin Welby’s memorable phrase: the Incarnation, Love born as one of us, that totally explodes the myths supporting our cruelty towards each other rather than the challenging and life-changing as well as life-affirming choice to live according to God’s rule – of loving one another as He has and continues to love us.

Why did you come? Lord, you came down that we may have love. Let love start where we are and with those around us and reach out to those in need. As we try with your help to do this, reveal to us your joy. Lord, hear us and help us.

AMEN.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 6, 2015

Today is the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropping on Hiroshima, and three days later over Nagasaki. At a ceremony to mark the anniversary, which included Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, said “Seventy years on I want to re-emphasize the necessity of world peace.” The Church of England published this prayer.

Today, as the United States congress debates a nuclear deal with Iran we remember how many times the world has been embroiled in a “war to end all wars” and we recognize that negotiation and diplomacy might end war in our time but undoubtedly not forever.

Today we hear that up to 200 migrants, crossing the Mediterranean Sea in an overloaded fishing boat, drowned when it overturned. Fleeing murder, violence, war, and trying to find a better life, this sea is rapidly becoming a mass graveyard not a route to mass peace and contentment.

Today, it is highly likely that wreckage now washing up on Reunion Island is from missing Flight MH370. What must be in the minds of the grieving relatives, especially those who think they are, once again, being misled? Are they expecting only news of violence, terror, and the backlash of war.

Today we hear a fence is being erected around Hungary. As if the Berlin Wall had not fallen; as if the Israeli wall of separation hasn’t taught us enough.

Today there are terror attacks in Gaza, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia; the world is obsessed with violence. Today, whatever the day, the good news never makes the headlines, only the evil that is done.

Today we hear that a deep el nino event might be building – but does this make headlines? Something of the glory and might of a powerful earth event returning to the Pacific.

Today we hear that, possibly, the “world’s biggest coal mine” in Queensland is put on hold following a court case. So that of the glory of the Australian barrier reef is retained.

Today and in the week ahead the Perseid meteor shower displays something of the glory of the heavens.

Today a little more of the interaction between the San Andreas and San Jacinto earthquake causing faults have been understood, displaying a little more of the glory of the interconnectedness of our world.

Today – the world is full of glory; full of violence; ever-changing and forever our world.

Ever-changing God, you have seen our constant obsessions – the reveling in violence and the demand for a war to end all wars – bringing peace in our time. You have seen how we yet seek to understand more of the environment of our planet beneath our feet and above our heads. All the wonder and the glory we see revealed are only reflections of your glory; all the violence we see is but a shadow of what your might would do if you unleashed it on earth. May we tremble at your glory and fall before your might so that our world and all that is in it will know peace in our time – even if just for today.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 2, 2015

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him”,
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13

The news recently has been even more disturbing, distressing and sleep depriving. Rightly so.

The massacre at the Church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA was just fading from the news headlines, when the killing of 27 and the wounding of 227 in a Kuwaiti mosque during the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month Ramadan filled the airwaves.

Simultaneously the news of a beheading of a business man in France and the attempted destruction of a gas and chemical plant, followed by the massacre in Tunisia of 38 including 30 British tourists, others from Germany, Tunisia and Belgium with dozens more injured all erupted in an outpouring of violence.

Then we come to the almost obscenely “routine” news of over 1300 killed in a 10 day long heatwave in Sindh province and Karachi in Pakistan, which managed to avoid being reported on by most media outlets. Another ferry capsized in the Philippines killing at least 36 with more missing. More than 40 people killed in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram. News emerges too that some of the 300 school girls kidnapped by them last year in the same area, have been “radicalised” and are fighting for them.

Wildfires rage in California, Washington state and Alaska in the USA, leaving devastation and loss in its tracks. Celebrations for Independence Day must be very difficult for so many this year.

Greece, is facing financial meltdown and a very uncertain future which will cause ripple effects across Europe and the world.

The saga continues across our small blue planet, so that nowhere feels safe whether our homes, churches, mosques, temples, cars, schools or work places. So how can I pray to a loving God?

The Psalmist says it for us all, in Psalm 13. But there is a gap between verses 4 and 5. Almost like different stories of faith… All doom and gloom and despair, and then… “But I have trusted in your steadfast love…” It the mysterious space where each one of us dares to confront the darkness threatening to overwhelm us, and there we encounter the mysterious Godhead, there in the darkness before us, and providing a glimmer of light, a tentacle of hope by the divine presence reminding us of all God is, has been and continues to be… None other than unfailing yet conquering love, compassion, understanding and mercy. Our rock in the shifting turbulent storms of life. Like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, (Mark 5: 25 – 29), we find when we’ve reached the end of our tether, we’ll find the edge of His garment.

Then and only then do we spot the good news among the darkness, the sense of thanksgiving on the death of Nicholas Winton for his hidden life and work in 1939 to rescue from Nazi dominated Europe and find foster homes in Britain via the “Kinder Transport” of over 700, mainly Jewish children. A Saudi Arabian Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, is planning to give away his $32 billion fortune to programs promoting health, eradicating disease, modernization, intercultural understanding and empowering women. And closer to most of our everyday lives, Nasir Sobhani, in Melbourne, Australia¸a barber who is a recovering addict, spends his one free day a week giving free hair cuts to homeless people and helping them make a “Clean Cut, Clean Start.” His credits his Baha’i faith for helping him keep clean and going straight and wanting to help others.

Help us Lord, to dare to meet you in the darkness that is so often life, and find in you light and hope not only for ourselves but each other and all whom we meet and all we do. Lord, hear our prayer.

Amen