Springtime Thoughts(May 1 2019) SPRINGTIME THOUGHTS All was beauty until the news of the assaults in Sri Lanka. Such devastation on Easter Sunday! Again and again I ponder the contrasts between joy and devastation, beauty and tragedy in our world. Some people ask "How can a loving God permit such horror?" Books are written to try to explain. I read but don’t really understand. What I feel is akin to survivor's guilt. How can I have such a good life while others suffer? What can I do? I can pray, but is that enough? At the recent ONRC AGM one workshop handed out A SABBATH PRAYER by Rabbi Jack Riemer:
We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war.
This prayer could be a reflection, personal or for a meeting. God give me what I need to do what I must.
For we know that You have made the world in a way That man must find his own path to peace Within himself and with his neighbour. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end starvation; For You have already given us the resources With which to feed the entire world, If we would only use them wisely. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to root out prejudice; For you have already given us eyes With which to see the good in all men, If we would only use them rightly. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end despair, For You have already given us the power To clear away slums and give hope, If we would only use our power justly. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end disease; For You have already given us great minds With which to search out cures and healing, If we would only use them constructively. Therefore we pray to You instead, O God, For strength, determination and will power To do instead of just pray, To become instead of merely to wish. |
