Friday, July 10, 2020

Day 120: A WEEK OF PRAYER FOR OUR WORLD IN CRISIS - For the Human Family



DAY 120
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
Week Eighteen – Sunday 12 July 2020

A WEEK OF PRAYER FOR OUR WORLD IN CRISIS

For the Human Family

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer: Prayers for the World

I have looked into the faces and into the eyes of people in approximately 40 countries of the world, from a few who were well off, to many who were middle class, and many more who were poor. One thing stands out over all those years, all those faces, all those eyes: they were all identical. This ‘whole human family’ we have just prayed for, above, is just that: a whole human family more similar than different, and the same in the deepest part of who each one is, as we have also prayed: “you made us in your own image.”

From my earliest days as a Christian I have felt that when looking into the eyes of the poorest of the poor in third world countries I was looking at myself. None of us were given the perceived luxury of being able to put in an order or request for the country where we will be born. It is a mystery embedded in the sovereignty of the Triune God. 

Years ago, we had the privilege of hearing Mother Teresa speak in person, someone who gave her life to the poorest of the poor in the human family. When she entered the room there was a palpable awareness that Jesus was in the room with her, and it seemed as though every sentence managed to have ‘Jesus’ in it. Her prayer for the human family is disturbingly, penetratingly simple: “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.” 

Pray the prayer above, again, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to your larger family, because the whole human family is hurting, the whole human family needs healing, the whole human family needs our prayers as though it were our own family, which in reality, it is.

Reflective Scripture: John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world …”

Reflective hymn:
“Song for the Nations” – Chris Christenson (1957-    )
May we be a healing balm to the nations,
a healing balm to the peoples of the earth,
‘Till the whole world knows the power of your name,
may your healing flow through us.

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