BEGIN TO RESCUE

PRAYER PAUSE  

Tuesday 19 December 2017

BEGIN TO RESCUE

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: It is Samson who will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines.”  (Judges 13:2 …25)

Reflection. In the run up to Christmas we have a series of pairs of texts. Today the birth of Samson is announced together with the birth of John the Baptist. Samson was pretty violent and slaughtered the Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass. John used violent language but no more. Jesus used the language of the Beatitudes, appealing to the best in human nature. We have come a long way in how we deal with one another. Violence is still with us – most recently in yet another terrible story in the Congo. But more and more people are talking – about climate change, about Iran and even about North Korea. We have still a long way to go and Samson’s method still has many adherents. But the world is a far better place today than it was on that first Christmas night.

Prayer. Lord, may we move forward, Christmas by Christmas, to a world of acceptance and celebration of our differences. May we move further and further away from the paths of violence. Amen.