A meditation on Micah 6:8 in the age of air-raid sirens and culture wars
there’s a dull thud in the distance but the tremor reaches our screens in real time
Khan Younis… 70 people fall while waiting for flour Gaza’s toll climbs past 55,000 names no algorithm can pronounce
meanwhile war planners debate bunker-busters for Tehran and reporters chart which U.S. bases are close enough to launch the next wave
the pundits label it deterrence the prophets just call it blood
the rupture at home
pews once arranged shoulder-to-shoulder now divided into voting blocs some churches preach the ballot before they preach the Beatitudes others go silent, hoping neutrality will save them
yet the fracture widens: 63% of adults still call themselves Christian, but many wonder what the word even means anymore
Micah 6:8 (our compass)
He has shown you, O human, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
justice… because every image-bearer in Gaza, Tel Aviv, Tehran, and Tulsa carries equal weight in the heart of God mercy… because vengeance only multiplies sorrow humility... because power without repentance turns pulpits into echo chambers
three invitations
Lament aloud Turn the scroll of headlines into prayer. Name the dead. Weep for enemies. Refuse to sanitize the statistics.
Practice inconvenient empathy Sit with someone whose vote, accent, or liturgy unsettles you. Listen until you hear fear hiding behind their certainty.
Re-center on the crucified Christ A kingdom without bombs, ballots, or budget line-items. Where swords are melted, not modernized. Where the metric is love, not leverage.
a closing breath
justice is not a partisan hobby mercy is not weakness humility is not silence
it’s the narrow way… the way that heals divided churches, defies reckless administrations, and dignifies every war-torn street with the whispered truth:
I am drawn to the simplicity of this “Christmas Prayer” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Our world is in need of the center line of the prayer which is, “Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.” Read and pray this prayer slowly. Let it get into your bones and your soul.
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER
Loving Father, help us to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from the evil by the blessing which Christ brings and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen!
“…then I can bury myself entirely in you, O mysterious God”
This morning my prayerful reflection was written by Karl Rahner SJ. It is a beautiful invitation into love, which is the presence and form of God.
God of My Life
Only in love can I find you,my God. In love the gates of my soul spring open, …..allowing me to breathe a new air of freedom. …..and forget my own petty self. In love my whole being streams forth …..out of the rigid confines of narrowness and anxious self-assertion, …..which makes me a prisoner of my own poverty and emptiness. In love all the powers of my soul flow out toward you, wanting never more to return, but to lose themselves completely in you, since by your love you are the inmost center of my heart, closer to me than I am to myself.
But when I love you, when I manage to break out of the narrow circle of self and leave behind the restless agony of unanswered questions, when my blinded eyes no longer look merely from afar and from the outside upon your unapproachable brightness, and much more when you yourself, O Incomprehensible One, have become through love the inmost center of my life, then I can bury myself entirely in you, O mysterious God, and with myself all my questions.
“I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure.” ~Eric Liddell
Christians have been slow to the game. For a group of folks who talk a lot about prayer, the statistics show they rarely practice it. When they do, it is primarily a “Hail Mary” kind of moment hoping the divine will get them out of their current jam or to meet a specific need that that lives in the land of illusivity.
Most other world religions connect prayer to some physical act be it breathing, yogic positions, stretching, or as the Hopi Indians do, running.
When you link some type of activity to prayer, you begin to focus better, notice your humanity more, and connect to God’s voice and inspiration in a fresh way.
If you know the story of Eric Liddell, he was the main character in the classic movie “Chariots of Fire” which centered around his gold medal Olympic race that almost wasn’t.
Liddell was known for and was to compete in the 200-meter race. However, that particular race was scheduled on a Sunday. Liddell experienced a crisis of faith when he found out. His strong conviction told him that he should go to church and worship God on that day. So, he declined to run the race he had prepared for.
Can you imagine that?
Training for an Olympic event and then declining to run because it interfered with his personal priority of going to church. In a time when people decline going to church because it is raining too hard, or it’s too hot or or or….I think you get my point. Liddell decided he would run the next race which was the 400-meter.
This wasn’t his normal race, nor what he trained for, but he decided to run it, and the rest is history as they say. He won the Gold Medal. After the race he said,
“The secret of my success over the 400-m is that I run the first 200-m as fast as I can. Then, for the second 200-m, with God’s help, I run faster.”
If you haven’t seen the movie put it on your list. The story is much bigger and beautiful than I can describe, but I have always been inspired Liddells’ famous quote in the movie:
“I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast!And when I run I feel his pleasure.”
I believe Liddell best connected with God while running. This discipline became a deeper prayer connecting his body, soul, and spirit to God.
I have many friends who are about to undertake a beautiful goal of running a full or half marathon to raise money for World Vision to bring clean water to areas where there is none.
A physical practice to achieve spiritual and physical goals. I believe God will meet them in a special way as they train. As they run they will notice how their focus sharpens. They will begin to hone in on the immediate moment whether it is because of fatigue, burn, or hard-breath. Their inner world will calm as they better unite with their outer reality. They will also have many “God I need you now” moments too!
With the right intention, their running will become for them a deeper spiritual experience, connecting them to God in a different way while making an impact for those who have no clean water. To me that is so good.
So for my marathon friends, here is a prayer I came across written by Lewis B. Smith Jr. he called his running prayer.
This is my running prayer Lord. I run in praise of you. I praise you with my motion. You sustain my breath That I may sustain your praise. All creation joining in Nothing in creation is still. My world revolves as I run across it. The heavens move as I run below them. Everything moves in praise. I move as I run. I run a trail of blessings, Giving and receiving both. As I run I am blessed, With moisture in the air To cool my straining body, Plants and trees nourish my breath, That I may run further. With birdsong to cheer me on. Joining in unending praise With the supportive murmur, Of the flowing creek. With passion in my arms and legs, With burning in my chest, That I may know that I am alive, To have more to praise you for. I leave blessings in my turn. Water for plants, Breath for trees. This run may end. The prayer will not. I may slow. I shall praise you still. Your praise carries me. To the limits of my body and beyond. Hands outstretched in praise, I run and collect bounteous blessings, The rhythm of the pavement sings A percussive song of power. Not of my might. Not of my strength. But of the persistence of your spirit. A regular rhythm of irregular melody Breath in windy counterpoint Still I run. Still I praise Ever the prayer runs on.
God gave us our bodies not only to live our mission through, but to experience His presence, purpose and power through.
When we integrate all of who we are we experience God in a whole new way. Let your body, created by God, help your spiritual journey and experience the kingdom of heaven that is within you and all around you.
