A prayer for rich and poor in the current global crisis, by Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane

A beautiful, inspiring, hopeful, challenging prayer ... posted today over at The Episcopal Cafe...

A prayer for rich and poor in the current global crisis

By Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane

Dear God,

The crises that have overtaken the world in the recent past and which continue to rain havoc upon your people reveal how much lies in the realm of what we don’t know. Suddenly, it has dawned upon us that so much is hidden from the human mind. But we know that what is hidden from us is not hidden from you. We know also that you reveal secrets to those who seek you and acknowledge their limitations in always finding the correct solutions.

And so we pray that you raise leaders that are prepared to right the many wrongs that have beset us for so long, so that good may prevail over evil; equity over selfishness; integrity over hypocrisy; and fair play over greed and recklessness.

As the crises intensify, those who have will be tempted to hold on to what they have, become less generous and ignore even more the realities of the weak and vulnerable. So we pray that you do not lead them into that temptation but deliver them from their selfish tendencies and endow them with changed attitudes and new lenses through which to view the world. This way they may come to the realization that they are only stewards of the resources you have given to us. Unless they put these resources to the service of others, their accumulated value becomes corrupted, rusts and fades, ultimately losing much, if not all, their luster and market value at the stock exchange, in a twinkling of an eye. Dear God, we have seen it all happen before our very eyes.

We also pray that while the so-called ‘perfect storm’ rages on, the spirit of Ubuntu will prevail....

Read the rest HERE at The Episcopal Cafe

Discipleship and Following Jesus

from the "indexed" blog:
(hat tip to Scott at "Seven Whole Days"...)



It being Holy Week and all, I am reflecting a bit on what it might mean to "take up your cross and follow me," - this is often said, and perhaps easily explained superficially, but for many of us in the United States, and many of us in The Episcopal Church, we are not so ready to take up the challenges of discipleship. We yearn for wealth, for comfort, for privilege but may not often recognize the importance of discipleship.... of getting in touch with poverty, with discomfort, and the underprivileged -- and also getting close to our own inner poverty, discomfort and lack of privilege.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey