Psalm 55:6-7 NLT
27“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
35 Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.36.
Luke 6:27-28, 35-36
Writer’s Note: In this week of heavy news stories (from the horrific Spanish train crash, floods in various countries, droughts elsewhere, civil unrest, changes of governments, elections, war, details of genocide, fears of supply disruptions, one man choosing to leave a nation defenceless while under attack) trying to hear what God is saying in and through these situations can be difficult. Our prayers this week differ from our usual pattern, but perhaps it is what we are meant to hear through all the maelstrom of life right now.
*”like Frodo, we wish that we did not have to live in these perilous times, yet here we are, by your grace.”
Holy One, God of the Ages, including this day, our offering is a heart burdened and struggling to find light other than through faith.
Your world, our world, is driven by division, hatred, suffering, hunger, thirst, fear, oppression, torture, genocide and fear; the complete opposite of your creative plan for us. Your whole being is love, not something warm and slushy but steadfast, enduring, confronting, justice-focused, transformative and merciful. We, your creatures, are spiritual beings on a human journey to more fully learn and grow into being love; into being more like You.
Creator God, forgive us through the all-encompassing love of your beloved Son, Jesus. Fill us with Your grace through Your Holy Spirit. Use us so that Your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
*”so, may we seek to find that piece of you in every person, even those we are convinced are empty of compassion.”
The report offered by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, contains details which horrify us. Once heard, they cannot be unheard. The depths of depravity committed by your children [in this case, by Israeli soldiers and settlers] against their brothers and sisters (whether newborns, girls, boys, teenagers, women, men, elders, those who are able-bodied or disabled mentally or physically) is unspeakable.
Yet we must hear. And act for justice, truth and equity.
And this is not unique. We hear similar stories across the world in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in North and South Sudan, Afghanistan, occupied Ukraine, in Russia, in the USA (in ICE concentration camps), in North Korea, until this week in Brazil, and elsewhere.
When we allow billionaire and state-controlled media, whether print, TV or online, to silence witnesses, spread false information or sanction those intrepid souls who are being the voices of the voiceless or to people being oppressed, we are complicit by our silence and inaction. Our leaders have their role to play, as do we when we vote.
Creator God, forgive us through the all-encompassing love of your beloved Son, Jesus. Fill us with Your grace through Your Holy Spirit. Use us so that Your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
*”may we never abandon our call to be people of grace, of justice, of peace, of including everyone.”
Sometimes as Christians we find Jesus’s life and words inconvenient. They challenge how we think He should be. Remind us of who is God here. It certainly isn’t any of us! Thankfully.
Help us to really listen, to study and to hear what You are calling us to be and do; rather than taking matters into our own hands. Help us concentrate less on the things that divide us and instead focus on, and be more honest about, our similarities. With You at the center, may we be more open to the beauties and truths that You see, and we don’t.
No barriers and no judgements, so we can welcome with love and joy those whom YOU have invited to the banquet. You prepare a meal for all. You don’t ask us ‘like’ everyone, You tell us to LOVE everyone. For that, Your grace is essential. For in you WE ARE ALL ONE.
Creator God, forgive us through the all-encompassing love of Your beloved Son, Jesus. Fill us with Your grace through your Holy Spirit. Use us so that Your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
*”may we try, as hard as it may be, to never let the word hopeless become a part of our vocabulary, just as it has never been a part of yours.”
Amen.
* Substack prayer meditation, October 28th 2026. (c) Thom M. Shuman. Used with permission.