17th. June. 2021. Daily Devotion.
27 ‘But to you who are listening I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:27
10th June 2021 A Candle in the Window Peter Millar
Words to encourage us all in tough times.
A blessing for every person on earth:
The world now is too dangerous and too beautiful for anything but love. May your eyes be so blessed that you see God in everyone. Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor. May your hands be so blessed that everything you touch is a sacrament. Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love. May your feet be so blessed that you run to those who need you. And may your heart be so opened, so set on fire, that your love, YOUR love, changes everything. From – A Black Rock Prayer Book.
Beauty for brokenness: (some words from a great hymn by Graham Kendrick)
Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair, Lord in the suffering this is our prayer. Bread for the children, justice, joy peace, sunrise to sunset your kingdom increase……..Shelter for fragile lives, cures for their ills, work for the craftsmen, made for their skills. Land for the dispossessed, rights for the weak, voices to plead for those who can’t speak………Refuge from cruel wars, havens from fear, cities for sanctuary, freedom to share. Peace to the killing fields, scorched earth to green, Christ for the bitterness, his cross for the pain……..Rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams, plundered and poisoned, our future, our dreams. Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed; make us content with the things that we need………God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray, melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
From South Africa: Words recorded by the late Laurens van der Post from a group of local people who had survived a massacre.
We prayed so that all bitterness could be taken from us and we could start the life of our people again, without hatred. We know that out of our own suffering that life cannot begin for the better except by us all forgiving one another. For if we do not forgive, we do not understand; and if we don’t understand, we are afraid. And then we hate, and if we hate we cannot love. And so no new beginning on earth is possible without love, particularly in a world where so many find it hard to love or recognise it when it comes searching for them. The first step towards this love then must be forgiveness. “Love is the will to be whole once again.” Alison M. Robertson
Prayer
O God, Help us please to understand and to act, The world has had so many tragedies in recent months. We struggle to see good some days. The news is inescapable, at times, coming even into our pockets and purses. The bad news is broadcast in restaurants and on screens, in every public space it seems. We look for peace and rest. We struggle and try to see good in our society.
It feels some days like everything is gone we once counted on. Please God, give us strength and resolve, To remember that every small act of kindness matters.
Help us to rely on you and your word, And not on the media and leaders who are weak. Please guide us and strengthen us to do your will. We pray Lord, you will forgive us for our pettiness, And help us to remember and follow your Son, our Saviour, Who died on the cross. Amen Prayer by Beth Maxwell Boyle.
