An Invitation to Friends
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The more I read about this election and the deepening political and racial divides in our country I am increasingly concerned. In particular, I am concerned about the divisiveness within the church. I am particularly concerned about how we treat one another in the church and how we treat those outside the church. I am concerned that we are not living up to our Christian ideals. I am concerned that we are not reflecting the transforming power of the risen Christ in our lives. These divisions are not only political and racial, they are personal and relational. Ultimately, though, they are spiritual. I find myself unwilling to act with compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, or gentleness (Colossians 3:12) toward those whom I perceive to neglect these virtues. And yet, these are the virtues to which I aspire and may be among the most important the Church can live at this time.
If you have similar concerns and recognize the need for a different path, I invite you to join me in engaging in two spiritual disciplines from now until the election. Spiritual disciples, while sounding somewhat unpleasant, are nothing more than activities that Christians have used throughout the centuries to open themselves to the grace of God in their lives. You already do some of them: worship, prayer, Bible reading, etc. For the next several months, I want to invite you to engage in two specific activities:
First, I have a habit of reading through the newspaper every morning while I eat my oatmeal. For the past several weeks, though, I have been been praying through the paper. I have prayed for Dallas, Baton Rouge, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (yes, FOR both of them), the Texas hot air balloon deaths, the multiple terror attacks across Europe and the Middle East. I have prayed through my local paper, the Orlando Sentinel. I have prayed through my Facebook "news feed." I have prayed through my Feedly news feed.
I wonder what would happen if Christians all across America began to ask for God's guidance and to ask for God's blessing on our country, our leaders, and our people without any preconceived notion of what that blessing might be and praying that others would be converted to our way of thinking? I wonder what God might do if his people humbled themselves prayed? I wonder. And I am willing to put in the work, the prayer work. And so I ask you to join me in praying through the newspaper every day.
Second, I want to invite you to pray a very old prayer with me every day until the election. The prayer of St. Francis is no doubt familiar to many of you. It seems to me that it is a wonderful prayer for this particular time in our country. It strikes me as a good prayer at all times, but especially now. Perhaps as we pray, we can ask God how we can "put feet" on this prayer, so that we can actually begin to live it out every day. The version below is adapted from Wikipedia (the bane of my academic existence, but sufficient for our purpose):
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.
I would really like to know if you are joining me by engaging in one or both of these activities. I will pray for you and ask that you pray for me as we share these means of grace together. To let me know if you are joining me you can leave a comment below or on Facebook, PM me on Facebook, or send an email to wade@wadearnold.net. Please feel free to like and share freely.
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