Take your pick. We have more than enough crises here at home and abroad. The one here revolves around whether we’ll have a fully functioning government tomorrow – of course, that works on the assumption that we’ve actually had one for the last nine months. Talk about rearranging deck chairs.
Then there’s Gaza. Trump and Netanyahu have proposed a 20-point peace plan that calls for a ceasefire, hostage release, staged military withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas laying down its arms, a new governing authority for Gaza, and a rebuilding plan. Notably it does say that no one would be forced to leave Gaza, but the devil is in the details.
Then, of course, there’s Ukraine. Putin bombing hospitals and civilians, sending drones over NATO country airspace. Europe is worried as Hungary’s Orban says Ukraine is not an independent country. He’s obviously forgotten 1956 when Russian tanks rolled into Budapest. And we can’t forget the wars raging in Sudan, which rarely get our notice. There are times we want to say: “Stop the world. I want to get off!”
Prayer for the Day
Wanting a mother’s arms to hold and shield us,
We want to burrow into a blanket of comfort;
But we know, O God, we cannot bury our heads,
For you call us to engage the world around us.
Grant, O Lord that we have a caring strength,
Enough to be witnesses to your embrace and care.
In the name of the One who is our strength,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I could no longer discern what was real and what was fake. Everything, including the present, seemed to be both too much and nothing at all.
Clemantine Wamariya, Rwandan refugee, in The Girl Who Smiled Beads
The saying "Life is just one damn thing after another," is a gross overstatement. The damn things overlap.
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Give ear to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
In the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
Psalm 5: 1-3