Isaiah 65:11-12, 24-25
But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny;
I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;
because, when I called, you did not answer,
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my sight,
and chose what I did not delight in.
Before they call I will answer,
New Revised Standard Version
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
I have no wisdom to share, no words of guidance, only a grieving and outraged soul over Russian President Putin’s unprovoked attack on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. His actions are a crime against humanity: those in Ukraine, those in his own mangled country, and those across the planet who believes our God is love.
Even against tanks, rockets, and heavily armed troops, I still believe our God brings Peace, somehow, someway, and sometimes only in the life everlasting when earthly life is so callously destroyed.
I still believe our God brings Justice. I believe Vladimir Putin will one day be forced to see himself as a weak and horribly sinful mortal as he stands face to face with our Lord. I also believe those who support Putin’s aggression and those who defend Putin’s actions as reasonable and smart will have to answer for their attitudes that God’s children are nothing more than disposable pawns in quests for power.
I still believe our God listens to the pleas of those under attack, of those who lose loved ones, and of those who despair at how viciously evil has its way. I believe that our God is already answering prayers before we ask.
I believe God calls us to pray, especially at times like this. I believe God calls us to open ourselves in prayer and not to hold anything back, so that when we have said our piece, God can speak to us, God can guide and teach us, and God can spread Love through us. How our world needs that Love!
JM