I believe the world and our nation are being threatened and fractured as never before. In the U.S., we see families bitterly divided over politics, prudent medical treatments, national aspirations and current events. Hundreds of thousands of people are migrating across national boundaries here and on other continents, driven by hunger, war, and despair to uncertain futures and all too often, to hostile welcomes. People are desparately searching for spiritual answers in life. But, we evangelicals who have these answers, sometimes seem more interested in secular politics than in the Gospel. We cannot serve two masters (Caesar and Christ.) We can try, but I don’t believe it can be done and I don’t know when it ever has been a successful strategy, though I can tell you when it’s been a dismal failure.
This morning, I stumbled across a prayer by Pope Francis, delivered several years ago, but more timely than ever. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on my blog, I am not a Catholic, but I believe there are opportunities for Protestants and Catholics, all believers of good will to work together in areas of common interest, such as advancing the Gospel, feeding and clothing the poor, protecting the environment, and bringing people and families in society together, reconciling them to God and to each other. Francis Schaeffer, the late theologian, author, and founder of L’abri spoke of the primary things (doctrine) that Christians of all denominations have in common with each other, and also the secondary things (dogma.) He said that the secondary things must never eclipse the primary things that bind us together. We as Protestants share the same creeds with our Catholic brothers and sisters.
So, I’d like to share that prayer with you, and perhaps comment on it afterwards. I hope that this prayers speaks and ministers to you as much as it did to me. I would also mention that the prayer is best understood if it is read contemplatively, or with some pause and thought between lines. I’d also like to thank Salt & Light Media for providing me an open source from which to download/upload this material.
“All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.”
Pope Francis says in his first two lines that God is in all of us. It’s not a question of wealth, or privilege, accident of birth or accomplishments in life. In Romans 2:11 Paul writes: “For God does not show favoritism.” And He is in all creatures, great and small. To mistreat animals is surely something that displeases God.
Line four the prayer reminds me of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I’m also reminded of Malachi 3:10 where Scripture says: “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”
Line five says that we ought “protect life and beauty.” Life is sacred. “Beauty” likely refers to beauty whereever it can be found: A mother and child, a foal learning to take its first steps, the stars in the skies all give testament to God and His grandeur, and His love of beauty.
Pope Francis prays: “Fill us with peace.” Peace (εἰρήνην) is an interesting New Testament word. Let’s use Romans 5:1 as an example. The Apostle Paul writes “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” The Greek word εἰρήνην (peace) literally means “the bringing together of that which has been separated.” For example, an estranged couple “making peace” and moving ahead with their life together. The word is used by every New Testament writer and is found in every New Testament epistle except one.
The reason Pope Francis asks that we be filled with peace is “that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.” That we might not speak evil of each other. That we might not offend each other. Again, the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:18 picks up on this theme when he writes: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” People on a daily basis in our country are being physically assaulted because they either wear a mask or do not wear a mask. Our public school teachers are being threatened over policies they have no control over. Politicians are instigating or justifying violence. Commentators and talk show hosts speak evil of others routinely because this is what their audiences expect and demand. How can we as Christians, as ambassadors for Christ, have any part in this?
Notice that Francis calls our Lord the “God of the poor.” Yet, ministers who preach the “prosperity gospel” suggest that God does not want you poor. To them, you are materially poor if you lack faith, or if you do not tithe enough to their ministry. They say God wants your rich. Many churches even have a member who is a trained investment counselor designated to “create wealth” for the congregants. The poor in the world are either held in contempt, or ignored completely. But, we forget that God loves them as much as he loves us. Take this challenge: Seach the Scriptures for the words “poor,” “wealthy” or “rich” and tell me who God speaks more highly of.
There’s an interesting story I read of St Francis of Assisi. Pope Gregory IX was showing St. Francis around the waxing splendor of the Vatican and was said to have remarked to St. Francis “Eh, St. Francis, no longer can we say ‘silver and gold have we none.'” Francis was said to have replied: “True, Holy Father, but neither can we say any longer ‘Take up thy bed and walk.'” This, of course, was a reference to Acts 3:6. Francis was suggesting that the accumulation and preservation of wealth often comes at the expense of the power of God in our lives.
“…Help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this Earth.” Is this something that people in our country are concerned about? If not the average American, then at least Christian-Americans. No? I can only imagine this, but I suppose that abandonment is one of the worst feelings a person can feel. Certainly, the Apostle Paul knew this feeling. At the moment, we have Americans trapped in Afghanistan. Some government officials seem to be denying this. Have all our missing Vietnam War soldiers been accounted for? Have all our missing Korean War soldiers been accounted for? There is a movie called Brokedown Palace. It features two unsuspecting young girls who accept a package for delivery to someone at their destination in Southeast Asia. They are arrested at the airport and spend the next three years in a Thai prison. They cannot communicate with the other women because they do not speak the local language, nor can most of the prisoners speak English. Certainly, they felt abandoned.
Pope Francis prays: “Bring healing to our lives.” This is the first clause of a conditional sentence dealing with protecting our planet, sowing beauty, and so on. I cannot tell with certainty what the Pope was thinking, but the sentence structure suggests–to me–that not everyone understands or is willing to remediate the notion that the world needs to be protected, and that pollution and destruction is wrong. Only those who have been “healed” can intuitively understand this. If so, we need this healing.
Capitalism is the best economic system we’ve ever had, but just as there are advantages to capitalism, there are downsides to it as well. One major disadvantage is the constant extraction of resources and exploitation in order to expand markets and increase profit margins. The planet, and the poor, rarely benefit from this, and when they do, it is nowhere near the windfall profits that the poor realize.
Pope Francis speaks of the value of “each thing.” Every thing? In the Catskills, there are millions of tons of rock. To the settlers in past centuries, rocks were nusiances while plowing fields, though some rocks could be used to to build fences and homes. The larger ones remained as monuments to the glaciers that carried the rocks from Canada and carved out the Hudson River Valley. When the ice receded, the rocks were left behind in piles called moraines. There would be terminal moraines that marked the furtherest point south that the glacier extruded, or lateral moraines. The glaciers acted, then, like a bulldozer.
I suppose that people in other states might find some of these rocks useful in their landscapes, and thus adollar value could be assigned to them. Some may even contain fossils or minerals further appreciating their value. But Pope Frances sees a value in everything, every rock, stone or pebble. Next time you are in the forest, pick up a stone and examine it closely. Try to imagine imagine how old it might be, or how it was formed. What natural or historical events it might have “witnessed.”
The Pope speaks of how we are profoundly united with every creature, and this is something I can readily relate to as someone who loves to feed wild birds, chipmunks, rabbits, deer and so on. When I see a magnificent squadron of snow geese, or a moose or elk, my impulse is not to kill it, but to pet it, stroke it. I see a glimpse of Adam and Eve’s communion with with nature restored in some small way. These animal play their part in the continuing health of the biosphere, and we must play our part as well.
Right now, our journey takes us through the Shadowlands. Dictionary.com defines the Shadowlands as “a land or region of shadows, phantoms, unrealities, or uncertainties. This is most certainly true. Our souls came from Heaven and eventually we will return there and if we have accepted God’s mercy and grace, we will abide there. But in the meanwhile, we deal with the many uncertainties of life, questioning reality, avoiding phantoms.
God is with us every day. Often we may be unaware of that fact, but on occasion it is very evident. And like small children, we need encouragement from our Heavenly Father when we stumble and fall, when we fail, when we grieve.
Justice, love, and peace should be our pursuits in life. Let the world be confrontational, mistrusting, unforgiving and belligerent, but let none of this be found in us.