"Call us anew to be salt for the earth
Give us to drink the wine of compassion
Give us to eat the bread that is you
Nourish us well and teach us to fashion
Lives that are holy and hearts that are true"
- Gather Us In Marty Haugen
11 Mass shootings (where 4 or more are shot) occurred over the holiday weekend in the United States, resulting in 220 deaths and 570 wounded. In Chicago, 7 were killed and dozens wounded as a gunman opened fire at a parade.
We are tired of the prayer but still we pray:
Lord, break our allegiance to idols of security and glorification of violence that have wrought this fruit. We pray for the healing of the wounded and the families decimated by this and the other mass shootings on this weekend. We are tired of this prayer. We need you to bring us to turn from our ways and heal us body and soul, individually and communally. May we be people of peace.
The Supreme Court this week made a decision that curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate emissions. This is a retraction of the ability of Federal agencies to make responsive and educated regulations - an ability delegated by congress to agencies that protect the health and well-being of Americans.
This decision may have far reaching consequences but we pray, for this one – that these policies would not hinder the necessary movement towards emissions targets and policies that will shift to sustainable energy use.
Lord, in the face of all that is threatened by our lack of action, we pray that emissions targets and policies that regulate them are not negated. We need your spirit to open up ways of being together that do not hinder our earth from functioning as you created it to. It seems impossible but you are God and we need your Spirit to help us act as if we truly did live by grace and not by power and money.
53 migrants died from extreme heat and lack of water in the back of a truck trafficking them from the border into Texas. We pray for the families of these ones.
Lord, the image of death in a dark truck is a stark one of humanity dealing so callously with its own self. We mourn these losses. We pray for the families of all who died that your spirit would comfort them. Let us keep working for solutions. Change even us, so we might be agents of your ways even when it comes to the home country, border and migrant crises that led to these deaths.
Earlier in June a $1.3 billion land claim settlement was made between the Canadian Federal Government and the Siksika First Nation.
This settlement, which began to be worked towards in the 1960’s, aimed to right past wrongs dating back to 1910 when the Government of Canada broke its Blackfoot Treaty (Treaty 7) promise and wrongfully took almost half of Siksika Nation’s reserve land, including some of the most productive agricultural and mineral-rich lands, to sell to settlers. The settlement agreement provides financial compensation to Siksika Nation to resolve several outstanding land claims and their related litigation.
Lord, righting wrongs is your domain, justice and righteousness are your throne – may this money, decades late, be used for blessing and flourishing. We pray this good news ripples into more good news for the members of the Siksika nation. And we pray continued decolonization of our attitudes towards land and human use of it.
Young children are more likely than any other group in the United States to experience the damaging effects of hunger and food insecurity. However, child hunger and malnutrition are preventable; evidence suggests that the Child Tax Credit is the best solution to addressing child poverty. Join us in asking Congress to permanently expand the Child Tax Credit!
Hearts Exchanged is a learning and action journey designed to equip Reformed Christians to engage with Indigenous people as neighbours and fellow image bearers. Would you like to participate in a cohort this fall? Make sure you let the team know at crcna.org/hearts-exchanged
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