Christian Reflection and Prayer

(Prayer 1)

The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly
clenched fists. This image shows a tention, a desire to
claim tightly to yourself, of greediness which betrays fear.
A story about an elderly woman brought to a psychiatric
center exemplifies this attitude. She was wild, swinging
at everything in sight, and frightening everyone so much
that the doctors had to take everything away from her.
But there was one small coin which she gripped in her
fist and would not give up. In fact, it took two people to
pry open that clinched hand. It was as though she would
lose her very self along with the coin. If they deprived
her of that last possession, she would have nothing more
and be nothing more. That was her fear.

When you are invited to pray, you are asked to open your
tightly clenched fists and give up your last coin but who
wants to do that? A first prayer, therefore, is often a
painful prayer because you discover you don't want to let
go. You hold fast to what is familiar, even if you aren't
proud of it. You find yourself saying: "That's just how it is
with me. I would like it to be different, but it can't be now.
That's just the way it is, and this is the way I'll have to
leave it." Once you talk like that you've already given up
believing that your life might be otherwise. You’ve already
let the hope for new life flow by. Since you wouldn't dare
to put a question mark after a bit of your own experience
with all its attachments, you have wrapped yourself up in
the destiny of fax. You feel it's safer to cling to a sorry
pass than to trust in a new future. So you fill your hands
with small clammy coins which you don't want to surrender.

(Reflections on Prayer. Taken from the book
"With Open Hands" by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

For too long, the U.S. military has dismissed the problem
of sexual violence.

26,000 people were sexually assaulted in the U.S. armed
forces in the past year, according to the military’s own
report. That’s an average of 71 people per day. There is
a push to reform the system to better protect victims,
but military and political officials are obstructing it.
No one should have to work in an unsafe environment.

Those who choose to report this abuse often face
retaliation, or watch as the military establishment does
nothing to prosecute their attackers. Only 11% of
assaults are reported, and many of those who do not
report their attack feel like nothing will change if they
do. It’s not hard to see why: All decisions to hold
perpetrators accountable lie within the military chain
of command—not with independently trained prosecutors.

The military justice system leaves women and men with
nowhere to turn when they are assaulted.

Regardless of how we feel about the military, we can all
agree that any person who is raped or sexually
assaulted deserves support and compassion.
Perpetrators must be held accountable.

We hope you’ll join us in calling on Congress to
defend those in the military by protecting them from
sexual violence. We need your voice now.

In faith,
Sojourners

Scripture:

Genesis 1:25
25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small
animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good. (NLT)

Reflection:

God saw that His work was good.  God felt really good
about what he had just accomplished.  Have you ever
notice that people sometimes feel guilty for having a good
time or for feeling good about and accomplishment, I
know that I sometimes do. 
You really don't have to feel this way.  Just as God felt good
about His work. we can be pleased with ours.  However, we
should not feel good about our work if God wouldn't be pleased with it. 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT PLEASES BOTH YOU AND GOD?