Creator God, I am so privileged that I don’t know I am! Living here in the first world it is striking to hear someone explain the difference between “relative poverty” and “absolute poverty.”
We pray that we are forgiven our attempts to pray for the whole world while neglecting to centre ourselves on You. As the seasons change help us remember the things we so urgently prayed over only two or three seasons ago. They have not gone away or been solved but have been shoved out of consciousness.
Lord in your mercy. . . Hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose increasing relative poverty is now putting them into absolute poverty – those whose homes are so damp and moldy the very shelter that counts as “privilege” means they are made ill and unable to afford to remain there. We pray for those whose countries are on front lines, such as Finland, Poland, Moldova and the other countries of Eastern Europe.
We pray for those who have been privileged to give to food banks, aid agencies, and support schemes, but who now need food, water, and aid and support for themselves. We pray for those farmers on whom we rely as they are now unable to afford fuel (red diesel in the UK) for their farm equipment and fertiliser for their fields.
Lord, as we pray for those in other countries so also do we realise we can speak the same prayers for our own, indeed for all, except the few wealthiest. And so we pray for:
Afghanistan,
Those with COVID-19 and COVID-deniers,
Israel and Palestine,
Refugees and offers of sanctuary,
Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia,
Those flooded (again) and those with storm damage,
Ukraine and Russia,
Those in education and those who might never catch-up,
Congo and Pakistan,
Yemen during Ramadan,
We pray for the victims of crime such as car-jacking and house-jacking even as we recognise our privilege in being owners. We are grateful for those kind souls who rescue, support and enable us. So, too, we pray for those whose very poverty leaves them with little option and come to prey on those who are as poor or even poorer; for those who feel driven to theft, rape, kidnap, scam and murder.
In the quiet of this moment; this sanctuary in a world of connectedness may we be so connected to you that we feel in our very bones and soul the very different answer there is for each person.
Lord in your mercy. . . Hear our prayer.
Amen
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