World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, August 15, 2024

Holy One,
you are both transcendent, stretching far beyond our understanding
and intimate, closer than the air we breathe.

I find comfort in that!
Especially when tragedy and illness strikes close to home,
it is comforting to know that I am surrounded by your love and care
AND at the same time that same love and care is available to all people.
Amid the challenges of life I am reminded of not only your presence,
but also that I am a part of a greater community which transcends space and time.

Whether it is:

• a personal health crisis
• the murder of an unarmed woman by police in Springfield, Illinois, USA
• the tragic death of a woman in her 20’s from an automobile accident
• over eight million people displaced from their homes and in need of food, shelter, and healthcare as civil war rages in Sudan
• the deaths of all 62 people aboard a plane that crashed outside São Paulo, Brazil
• scandals in Japan as accusations of bribery and kickbacks abound for the Liberal Democratic Party, prompting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to announce he will step down next month and will not run for a second term
• as the Russian war with Ukraine nears two and a half years of conflict, death, and destruction
• the viscous stabbing attack on an 11 year-old and a 34 year-old woman in London, England
• over 50 people killed following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the weekend
• the thousands of doctors who have gone on strike in India, demanding better protection for healthcare workers after a medic was raped and murdered while at work
• or the many griefs around the world which do not make the world news

Whether we look in the mirror, or around the world,
whether we see pain and heartache, or joy and celebration,
we can be comforted and encouraged knowing that you are with us,
each and every one of us, and all of us are sheltered under your love.

In that confidence, God of All,
inspire and empower us to work for wholeness in our fragmented world,
so all may thrive as we work to realize your beloved community
here on earth as it is in heaven!

Amen, and Amen.