We were reminded today how small the world has become as we lifted up the names of the four members of the Christian Peacemakers Team that have been taken hostage in Iraq. Not only has our church supported this ministry, but we have among us John Worrell and Linda Ammons who are active participants in CPT.
A CPT member is currently blogging about the situation and had a wonderful post about the experience when you visit at mosque. While I encourage you to read the entire post, I was struck by this portion of it:
A CPT member is currently blogging about the situation and had a wonderful post about the experience when you visit at mosque. While I encourage you to read the entire post, I was struck by this portion of it:
We are told repeatedly that "Our Koran instructs us to work for peace like your Bible teaches you." Now the connection has been made. This is the point when I feel the weight and support of the entire Christian world as it stumbles and occasionally walks boldly to live out the gospel of the Prince of Peace.
How incredible to be aware of the universal importance of a particular act. Most of us will never know the particular experience that is described here, but I contend that there can (and should) be many moments in our lives when we can feel the weight and support of the entire Christian world. Each of us is a member of the body of Christ and so we must regularly have work to do in service of Christ. At the moment of performing that service, you have the opportunity to feel eternity in the present.
The hostage takers have set a deadline of the end of this week when they are threatening to kill the hostages. Praying for the safety of Harmeet Singh Sooden, James Loney, Norman Kember, and Tom Fox, as well as for the transformation of the hearts of their captors is one way seek that moment of transcendence. Finally, if we are to be true to our allegiance to the Prince of Peace, we must remember all the suffering of all those who are caught up in this violence. We must remember all those in prison in Iraq and their families. We must pray for those who make the decisions that perpetuate warfare and for those who create the conditions. A real and lasting peace in our time would be the greatest gift of all this or any Christmas.
The hostage takers have set a deadline of the end of this week when they are threatening to kill the hostages. Praying for the safety of Harmeet Singh Sooden, James Loney, Norman Kember, and Tom Fox, as well as for the transformation of the hearts of their captors is one way seek that moment of transcendence. Finally, if we are to be true to our allegiance to the Prince of Peace, we must remember all the suffering of all those who are caught up in this violence. We must remember all those in prison in Iraq and their families. We must pray for those who make the decisions that perpetuate warfare and for those who create the conditions. A real and lasting peace in our time would be the greatest gift of all this or any Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment