"So make sure that you, like salt, keep your true flavor by walking with each other in the way of peace." - Mark 9:50 (FNV)
In a historic and far-reaching decision, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade on Friday, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists. Writing for the court majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that the 1973 Roe ruling and repeated subsequent high court decisions reaffirming Roe "must be overruled" because they were "egregiously wrong," the arguments "exceptionally weak" and so "damaging" that they amounted to "an abuse of judicial authority." The decision, most of which was leaked in early May, means that abortion restrictions will take place in nearly half of the states immediately, with more restrictions likely to follow. For all practical purposes, abortion will not be available in large swaths of the country. The decision may well mean too that the court itself, as well as the abortion question, will become a focal point in the upcoming fall elections and in the fall and thereafter.
Lord, we pray for life and life abundant. We weep for the individual and societal circumstances that force women and men to make the hard choice to end a pregnancy. Take our cries and fill us with your steadfast love and active compassion. We find fault with the idea that only select lives are worthy of your gift of life. Fill us with a creative imagination that leads to peace and solutions for flourishing families.
The bodies of at least 46 people believed to be migrants who crossed into the United States from Mexico were found dead on Monday in and around a tractor-trailer that had been abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio, state and city officials said. At least 16 others, including children, were taken to local hospitals alive but suffering from heat exhaustion and apparent dehydration, city officials said during a news conference at the scene of what appeared to be one of the worst episodes of migrant death in the United States in recent years. The chief of the San Antonio Police Department, William McManus, said three people had been taken into custody. Earlier in the day, officers had been searching for the driver of the vehicle, who appeared to have abandoned the truck sometime before it was discovered in a remote area near railroad tracks and auto salvage yards southwest of downtown. Chief McManus did not say if the driver was among those detained.
As the G7 gathers, climate change is one of the issues at center stage. The leaders of Senegal, India, Indonesia and South Africa have been invited as guests to join permanent members: the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, the U.K. and the EU. All four of those countries are now involved in talks with G7 countries about so-called Just Energy Transition Partnerships. These involve multibillion-dollar deals to wind down coal industries and replace them with green energy. The model is being trialed in South Africa. Ina-Maria Shikongo, a climate activist from Namibia, said to Politico: "European investment can make the difference between African countries saddled with polluting technology from the last century that makes the climate crisis worse — or thriving economies built on safe and reliable renewable energy."
For the proper use and direction of money, Lord we pray. Give us wisdom, direction, conviction, and vision to those tasked with financing the clean energy future, and let it be just and abundant.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced further dramatic cuts to food aid in Yemen, leaving millions of Yemenis already suffering through war unable to get enough food. The WFP said on Sunday that it was forced into rationing as a result of not receiving enough funding, global economic conditions and the continued knock-on effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The WFP provides food aid to 13 million people in Yemen, but the new cuts mean it will only be able to provide five million of them with 50 percent of their daily food requirements, with the remaining eight million only getting 25 percent. Caught between a protracted war and economic collapse, at least 17.4 million people – more than half of Yemen’s population – are in need of food assistance.
Lord we cry out, “Why? Why, God?” We don’t live in a world lacking resources, and yet so many continually find themselves without. Lift up those stepping into the gap to support food aid.
This past weekend, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to push for closer energy ties as his ruling coalition in Berlin races to find alternatives to Russian fossil fuels. Germany hopes to import liquefied natural gas from Canada to help replace the Russian gas it still relies on for more than a third of its imports, down from about half before the invasion of Ukraine. An agreement can’t come quickly enough for Europe’s biggest economy. Scholz’s government last week warned that recent Russian moves to slash Europe’s gas supplies risked sparking a collapse in energy markets. This news comes as a Russian missile strike hit a shopping center in Ukraine’s central Poltava region on Monday, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens more, the Ukrainian authorities said. Additionally, Russia missed a deadline for making bond payments on Sunday, a move signaling its first default on international debt in more than a century, after Western sanctions thwarted the government’s efforts to pay foreign investors.
For war efforts that do not harm bodies, destroy communities, or pollute lands, we pray. For those who wage the war for peace, we pray. End violence, here and everywhere. May we be your people, O Lord, who know not of violence.
In this toolkit, you will find resources and ideas for celebrating World Refugee Day both as congregations and individuals. Whether you participate through worship, acts of advocacy, building community, or drawing on your own creative ideas, you can actively demonstrate that Christians across North America stand with refugees. Access the full toolkit.
We will be at Inspire 2022, hosting workshops on creation care, immigration, diversity, justice and advocacy, and more. Join us!
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