“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 United States has announced that scientists have made a breakthrough in fusion energy, in what officials called a “milestone” that has the potential to one day become a boundless source of clean energy. At a press conference on Tuesday, US officials said that scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California had produced more energy in a fusion reaction, the process that powers the sun and the stars, for the first time. “Monday, December 5, 2022, was an important day in science,” Jill Ruby, the undersecretary for nuclear security at the Department of Energy, told reporters on Tuesday. “Reaching ignition in a controlled fusion experiment is an achievement that has come after more than 60 years of global research.” The scientific breakthrough has kindled hopes that fusion could become a powerful source of clean energy and spur new technological and scientific innovations. However, there is still a long way to go before fusion is viable on an industrial scale. The ignition achieved was a single event – to produce continuous power it would need to be done regularly many times a minute. Getting to that point will require further investment and research to create the technologies to build a power plant.
God, we pray for the possibilities of what the future might hold: we pray that our brightest minds may continue to strive to understand our world and how we can live in harmony with the created world. Lord, as we pursue scientific discovery, let us ask what can we do, but let us never forget to ask what ought we do.
In the Horn of Africa, a climate change-induced drought is exposing cracks in the global food system and pushing humanitarian aid to a breaking point. Nearly 26 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing extreme hunger, with some areas already reaching catastrophic famine levels, according to the United Nations. The situation here is unfolding as a food crisis threatens a record number of people around the world, with nearly 345 million at acute levels of hunger and nearly 50 million people on the brink of famine. “We are on the way to a raging food catastrophe,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres tweeted recently. This year’s droughts and severe weather diminished or decimated crops across the world—in parts of the United States, Europe, China, Australia and the Indian subcontinent. The current emergency foreshadows what researchers call “multiple breadbasket” failures, which will likely occur more often and with greater intensity as Earth’s atmosphere warms. Battered by more climate-induced weather shocks or chronic conditions like drought, the world’s farmers are projected to produce less food in coming decades as the global population rises toward 10 billion. Some experts believe what’s happening in the region could become the worst humanitarian disaster in a generation—despite all the improvements in early warning systems, the awareness-raising global rock concerts of the 1980s and the “lessons learned” from the famines of recent history.
Lord, God of mercy, hear our prayer. Help us to know what we can do, how we can help. Provide sustenance, O Lord - we cry out that this disaster may pass us by.
As Peru moves from one political crisis to another, the country has exploded in protest, with at least seven dead in the last week and the smoke of fires and tear gas hanging over city streets. The spark of the current unrest was the ouster and arrest of leftist leader Pedro Castillo after he tried to dissolve Congress illegally. It followed a months-long standoff where lawmakers impeached him three times, the final time removing him from office. Political turmoil is increasingly threatening to derail the country’s economic stability, with ratings agencies warning of downgrades, blockades impacting major mines in the world's no. 2 copper producer, and protesters demanding Congress and new president Dina Boluarte step down. The heavily fragmented unicameral Congress is loathed - with an approval rating of just 11%, according to pollster Datum. That is below Castillo's, which despite a string of corruption allegations was 24% just before he was removed. "The Peruvian people are just exhausted from all the political machinations, the crime, uncertainty and stalling growth," said Eric Farnsworth, a vice president at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.
God, we long for governments that can be trusted to carry out the will of the people, and we know that for so many of the world’s citizens, that trust simply does not exist. We pray for peace, we pray for democratic processes, we pray for justice in Peru, God.
In January many churches mark Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Explore worship resources for helping your church remember the sanctity of human life, including free bulletin inserts, a prayer, and guidance for planning. Stay tuned for advocacy opportunities.
This popular workshop is now available as an online course in Canada and the U.S. Faith in Action is designed to help you grow in five key advocacy areas: research methods, key messages, letter writing, planning talking points, and setting up in-person meetings. Sharing your well-informed opinion can make a real difference on the justice issues that you care about, and can bring about long-term changes to unjust systems. Find the course at learn.crcna.org
The Reformed family is a diverse family with a diverse range of opinions. Not all perspectives expressed on the blog represent the official positions of the Christian Reformed Church. Learn more about this blog, Reformed doctrines, and our diversity policy on our About page.
In order to steward ministry shares well, commenting isn’t available on Do Justice itself because we engage with comments and dialogue in other spaces. To comment on this post, please visit the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue’s Facebook page (for Canada-specific articles) or the Office of Social Justice’s Facebook page. Alternatively, please email us. We want to hear from you!
Read more about our comment policy.