Floods, fires, storms, heat — the pattern of disaster keeps repeating, and it's easy to go numb to it, or to spiral into dread about what's coming next.
A life of prayer doesn't seek to resolve the suffering of the world, it seek's God's peace and direction within it. Evening Prayer includes intercession "for those in any kind of trouble," trusting God to behold their affliction and comfort them — not a request to explain why disasters happen, just an act of showing up in prayer for people we have yet to meet.
Our Catechism address the question of prayer in the midst of suffering (Q 243):
How should you pray in times of suffering?
I should pray trusting in the sufficiency of God’s grace and in joyful assurance that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.”
Lord, in your mercy — hear our prayer
#beknowgrowgo #anglican #goodsamaritan
Whatever the news brings us today — somewhere in your feed, someone is convinced the other side is going to ruin the country. That anxiety is real, and pretending it isn't doesn't make you more spiritual.
The Prayer Book has a prayer for the human family that asks God to break down the walls that separate us and unite us in bonds of love. It's worth noticing that prayer doesn't ask God to defeat the other side — it asks God to change us.
The Catechism grounds this in something older than any election cycle: every person we argue with online is made in the image of God, prior to and beneath their politics. That doesn't mean disagreement disappears. It means contempt isn't an option for us, even when it's everyone else's default setting.
Lord, break down the walls that divide us — starting with the ones in my own heart.
#beknowgrowgo #goodsamaritan #anglican
🌏 God of All Nations ⛰️ (8/16/26)
"The Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven."
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
