Justice and Worship

An Honest Christmas Prayer 

from one who imperfectly longs for justice.

“In this day, this season, miracles will grow within, unfurl, bear fruit. And the heart that makes time and space for Him to come will be a glorious place. A place of sheer, radiant defiance in the face of a world careening mad and stressed. Because each day of Advent, we will actively wait. We will wait knowing that the remaking of everything has already begun.” - Ann Voskamp

"The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before. So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running."

-  Jan Richardson

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

In light of the news from Winnipeg about the serial killings of 4 Indigenous women, we pray:

"The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord."

- Henri Nouwen

“‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope." - Daniel 9:18 MSG

Colorado Springs Shooting

Five people are dead and 17 wounded after a mass shooting inside an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, CO over the weekend.  The event marks more than 600 mass casualty shootings in the US so far this year.

"I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he’ll say and do. My life’s on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning." - Psalm 130:5-6 MSG

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. - Proverbs 4:18 

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding. 

-Psalm 148:7-8

“Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful, and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word.”
― N.T. Wright

Updates from Ukraine

A Russian fighter plane has crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, near Ukraine killing 4 civilians. Footage on social media, which has been verified by BBC News, showed a large fireball erupting from what appeared to be a multi-storey building.