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Thursday, February 2, 2012

 

Creator God, the heavens declare your glory. Sitting in a sunny window while it freezes outside I wonder again about the contrasts of our world – the times when we think we know what’s going on and how it happens; the times when something unexpected changes us yet again for your glory. 

 

In the huge diversity of life and environment; the way humanity acts together yet pulls apart, I try to puzzle out where your hand is. I know it is there. I see it in the timing of the events which affect me; the astonishing ways world events come together.  

 

I ponder before you the contrasts of:

·        The rescuers from Australia plucking unknown survivors from the sea following a ferry sinking off Papua New Guinea while a young Afghan mother is strangled by her husband and mother-in-law for giving birth to a daughter.

·        From the freezing weather across Europe and the theft of ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier in Chile to the unseasonable weather and storms in the U.S.

·        Those who volunteer to work with young female guides while others are trafficked into slavery even between First World countries such as Britain and Sweden. 

·        The death toll in appalling road crash in Florida (U.S.) and the rescue of rowers in the Atlantic.

·        The debate about on-going Facebook and Twitter accounts after the death of a person and the news that scientists are beginning to decode words in the brainwaves of those unable to speak. 

·        The overt deaths in the football violence in Egypt and the silent deaths from drinking dirty water across much of central Africa.

·        The excitement in the art world over the “new Mona Lisa” and the less than dramatic announcement of undreamt deep ocean life near New Zealand.

·        The military presence in Afghanistan and the talking in the UN security council over Syria.

 

Lord, all these contrasts give us pause for reflection. Where is your hand? Where are our priorities, are they yours?

 

The heavens declare your glory. Give us the depth of perception to appreciate the wider picture; to place a concern for your Word in your World at the forefront of our being and our thinking so your glory may be declared throughout the world. 

 

Amen.

 

 

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