It takes all of us to care for the elderly and the unborn #Pray4ppl

Life Support Prayer Calendar  Dear Prayer Team Member,   When a society engages in a decades long assault on the unborn... "Everyone is in danger of being the next outcast, the next “less than,” the next sub-human.  Today’s oppressors will be tomorrow’s victims.  It is an inevitable, vicious cycle." Excerpt from the Sep-Dec Call to prayer by Executive Director, Deborah Hollifield:   Call to Prayer: "Identity Politics" Psalm 139:13-14, Romans 9:20-21 (NASB) ​ For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.   On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Sep 27 - Oct 3, 2020 1. Confess that our national biases have led to expressions of hatred and acts of violence that have caused physical harm and even death to others. Ask God to forgive and remove all traces of prejudice in the hearts of his people. ​ 2. Pray for God’s protection of persons in minority communities, who are unborn, who are sick, persons with disabilities, or who are poor, individuals with genetic anomalies, or dementia, or mental health diseases. May the church be known for our love to all of these that society sets aside or actively hates. Sep | Oct |Nov | Dec Prayer Calendar PO Box 5239, Lancaster, PA 17606-5239 412-487-1990 Share Via: Check out PPL's website

A Season of Peace: Sunday, September 27

Eyes That Open to New Paths for Peace

 Peace in the World

 Henry Koenig Stone

 Psalm 2:1–3

 Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us.” (NRSV)

Reflection: This week, we reflect on the tools needed for peacemaking in the world, as well as on the tools that are overused and ineffective.

The first and greatest tool for peacemaking is love: the kind of radical love that welcomes strangers into your home, that shows mercy to those you name your “enemy,” and that brings the courage to take risks for peace. As the saying goes, “Do I not defeat my enemies, when I turn them into friends?” A second tool is organization: relationships cultivated over time. Building up trust and mechanisms to build economic and political support beams for peace can be the source of much in the way of stability and reconciliation in the world at large. A third tool is humility: acknowledging the blind spots within our own assumptions and limited expertise. While this is sometimes a frustrating thing to do, it can allow us to better serve the needs of people, which may be very different from our own needs. We must remember that we, too are in need of an introduction to God’s peace.

In a world of fear and division, the temptation is always to be drawn to the power of domination over “Others” — whether we define people as Other by their skin, their language, aspects of their identity or their chosen mode of faith. Too often, the first response we reach for when we are afraid is a violent one — a military crackdown to assert our own power and authority to police the world. But, barring very rare circumstances, diplomacy and multilateral international relations are more likely to lead to peaceful outcomes in the long run. God reminds us that, in the end, there is no lasting security that comes from force; the “conspiracies of the nations” are all in vain. The path of domination leads only to anger, suffering and violence. And so, instead, we are called to take our refuge in God — to trust in the call to honest witness in the world, to justice internationally, and, gradually, to a state of shalom/salaam between all peoples.

Practice for Peacemakers: This week, allow your assumptions about conflict to be challenged. Strive to see moments of contention as practice for peacemaking in your own life, and consider ways in which conflict de-escalation could be given greater priority in U.S. foreign policy.

 Prayer: Dear God, help us to see the work of peacemaking through your eyes of love and understanding. May we not see an “Other” at the far side of the negotiating table, but instead be aware of the communion that is to exist between all of your children, regardless of ethnicity, geography or creed.

 

Henry Koenig Stone is the editor for this year’s Season of Peace Reflections. An activist and public policy wonk, he has previously served as editor of “Unbound” in Louisville, KY., and as associate for young adult social witness to the Advisory Committee for Social Witness Policy.

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This year’s Season of Peace Resources are designed to help participants explore practices for building peace on every scale. From the personal level to global issues, these reflections and prayers will help grow the faith and witness of the whole church. Throughout the 29 days of  the 2020 Season of Peace, we are invited to reflect upon:

Week 1 September 6–12: Peace Within
Week 2 September 13–19: Peace in Relationships
Week 3 September 20–26: Peace in Community
Week 4 September 27–October 3: Peace in the World
Final Day October 4: Holistic Peacemaking

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on 1 John 2:1 - My children, I am writing this so you won't sin. But if you do sin,  Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Becoming Presbyterian

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Becoming Presbyterian: The Holy Spirit is at work in the PC(USA)’s 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement September 26, 2020 Paul Seebeck,  Nick Pickrell, organi...

A Season of Peace: Saturday, September 26

On Being Open and Affirming

Peace in Community

 Rev. Jason Boyd

Micah 6:6a, 8

 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? … [God] has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (NRSV)

Reflection: Somewhat recently, the number of churches in the United Church of Christ that have adopted an Open and Affirming covenant surpassed 1,600. This is a long way from when the first churches did so, nearly 40 years ago. But, even as some progress has been made in making a more just world for LGBTQ persons, we must continue to ask ourselves, “What does it mean to be Open and Affirming?”

The first thing it means is that a congregation has made a specific welcome of LGBTQ persons. There are very few churches that do not proclaim some form of words like, “All are welcome here.” That doesn’t cut it. LGBTQ people have learned, often the hard way, that this doesn’t really mean them. LGBTQ folks have come to understand, through lived experience and through the relentless bigotry practiced in society and in so many churches, that, “All,” in practice, rarely means “Yes! YOU! You are welcome here!”

Being Open and Affirming also means that a congregation has taken the time to study itself, unpack where any anti-LGBTQ prejudices may exist, and work to eliminate them. Intentional emotional and spiritual injury of LGBTQ people inflicted by churches is real, and is a sin for which many churches still need to repent. Eliminating and repenting of homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia — all the phobias of gender and identity — are necessary processes for there to be a state of peace in God’s beloved community. To really be Open and Affirming is to recognize this, and to provide a safe place where LGBTQ people are embraced and celebrated as God made them, lifted up as the holy and beloved children of God that they are.

Being Open and Affirming means, well, just that — affirming who God made LGBTQ people to be, and rejoicing in the beauty and joy of God’s creation. It is making the church a place of love and justice, and affirming God’s creation of LGBTQ people as a part of God’s gift of love.

Practice for Peacemakers: If you are a member of an Open and Affirming, More Light, or other church with an “LGBTQ-friendly” commitment, take the time to go back through the checklists of that commitment. Is your church ready to celebrate when an LGBTQ member or visitor gets married, no matter who their partner may be? Is your church ready to follow the leadership of LGBTQ members in local Pride events? Are your study groups comfortable with discussing issues of gender and identity, learning and self-improving inclusive language, and maintaining a safe space for honest self-portrayal? If, in discerning where your church’s comforts and discomforts lie, you discover consistent hang-ups or limits to welcome, then it may be time to start again from the beginning and follow the process of learning to truly be a welcoming space.

 Prayer: God of the rainbow, we give you thanks for all your creation, and ask your blessings on us as we strive to love one another as Christ loved us. Strengthen us on this ongoing journey of making Earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

 

The Rev. Jason Boyd is senior pastor of Henrietta United Church of Christ in Henrietta, NY. He has served churches in a number of states, previously worked in higher education for more than 20 years and is a proud Schnauzer parent.

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This year’s Season of Peace Resources are designed to help participants explore practices for building peace on every scale. From the personal level to global issues, these reflections and prayers will help grow the faith and witness of the whole church. Throughout the 29 days of  the 2020 Season of Peace, we are invited to reflect upon:

Week 1 September 6–12: Peace Within
Week 2 September 13–19: Peace in Relationships
Week 3 September 20–26: Peace in Community
Week 4 September 27–October 3: Peace in the World
Final Day October 4: Holistic Peacemaking

A Season of Peace: Friday, September 25

Revisiting Prison

Peace in Community

Adam Stone

Matthew 25:37–40

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (NRSV)

 Reflection: As a public defender, I frequently encounter parts of the legal system that are irresponsible barriers to justice. One of the reasons so few people take on this work is that in many of these cases, even a good lawyer has a hard time protecting their clients from unjust sentencing.

In Iowa, simple possession of marijuana, first offense, is a “serious misdemeanor,” punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. If the defendant has been convicted of possession of a different controlled substance, or in other ways violated the controlled substance statute in the past, other sentencing enhancements can apply, such as the “habitual offender enhancement,” making the mere possession of marijuana punishable by up to 15 years in prison or more.

That is insane — especially for a drug that hurts society less than cigarettes or alcohol. These sentences are employed almost exclusively against people of color, although whites use marijuana at a similar rate, which means that there are far more white users of marijuana, overall.

The debate over legalization is heated, and it would need to be accompanied by significant regulation. However, it strikes me as an obvious step to reduce simple possession of marijuana to the lowest possible level, a “simple misdemeanor,” and to keep all other drug possession charges to one level higher, “serious misdemeanor,” regardless of the number of offenses. At any level of punishment, only providing access to care centers and treatment is going to produce any good, healing results.

We should also eliminate the “habitual offender enhancement” from felony drug possession cases and other nonviolent property crimes. In Iowa, if you have been convicted of two or more felonies, and are convicted of another felony, the minimum punishment you can receive is an indeterminate term of incarceration not to exceed 15 years, with a mandatory three years before parole.

Prosecutors regularly charge defendants with multiple felonies and then attempt to apply the habitual offender enhancement to each one. For example: a guy commits seven acts of forgery, and in so doing, steals about $1,500 from a bank. He has previously been convicted of two or more felonies. The prosecutor charges him with seven class D felonies, each punishable by up to five years in jail, and then applies the habitual offender enhancement to each. Each charge is now punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for a total of 105 years, with 21 years mandatory before parole eligibility. This, too, is crazy. Life in jail does not fit the crime of stealing $1,500, but this happens every single day. It is in the process of happening to one of my clients as I write this reflection.

Prison is not a tool of peace, and should be a place of last resort — a place for violent offenders, and offenders who commit inherently evil, “malum in se crimes, and others who pose a direct and appreciable threat to the others. It should not be a repository for the mentally ill, which it currently is, nor be a mechanism for oppressing Black America, which it also currently is.

Demons within this system of “justice” are legion. Cash bail laws put impoverished people in jail without a trial. Racially profiled traffic stops, ostensibly done for trivial reasons like having too much dirt on a license plate, are not just. The overwhelming power of prosecutors leads to disparate treatment across the system, and a shortage of prosecutors of color contributes to this bias. District court judges need to stop bending over backwards to justify police conduct, stop doing lip service to the warrant requirement, and actually apply the law of the Fourth Amendment, strictly. And racial sensitivity training, substance abuse education and poverty simulations should be required for all prosecutors, every year that they practice.

Practice for Peacemakers: Today, remember God’s children that are imprisoned and in jail. Consider giving to The Bail Project, which pays bail for those being held without a trial, or to an organization that provides resources to people recently released from prison. Alternatively, join or start a prison ministry organization through your church and live out the Matthew 25 call to visit God in jail.

Prayer: Dear God, we know that your justice is restorative, not retributive. Help us to heal our flawed institutions, and not forget those whom we have cast into prison. And help us to heal our nation, so that one day we may be — and feel — equal under the law.

 

Adam Stone is a lawyer and public defender who serves the communities in and around Des Moines, IA. He lives in Des Moines with his partner Melissa and their two children.

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This year’s Season of Peace Resources are designed to help participants explore practices for building peace on every scale. From the personal level to global issues, these reflections and prayers will help grow the faith and witness of the whole church. Throughout the 29 days of  the 2020 Season of Peace, we are invited to reflect upon:

Week 1 September 6–12: Peace Within
Week 2 September 13–19: Peace in Relationships
Week 3 September 20–26: Peace in Community
Week 4 September 27–October 3: Peace in the World
Final Day October 4: Holistic Peacemaking

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on Romans 5:3-4 - But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us hope.