Prayer is the best response to hatred.
Charles Spurgeon Meditation When injustice happens,
Most of us feel outraged.
When discrimination happens,
We may get angry.
When abuse of power happens,
We often want to scream,
Rise up and stop the abuse.
Such reactions are understandable.
We need to protest.
We need to make our voices heard.
We cannot be silent.
Yet,
The outrage,
The anger and the inner and outer screaming cost us a lot.
We may feel toxic,
Overwhelmed,
Tense and somehow beside ourselves.
We may be unable to focus.
How do we care for ourselves and for others when the emotional waves rise high?
For me,
Hearing the words,
Prayer is the best response to hatred,
Helps me focus.
It helps ground me.
It reminds me whose I am.
But what if there are no words?
What if I can only sigh or cry or moan and groan?
The Christian tradition knows of prayer that holds feelings that are too deep for words.
Often,
This kind of prayer finds no expression other than sounds.
Our spiritual invitation in times of outrage and anger is to groan freely and see those sounds as prayer that God understands.
We can scream or cry and know that God knows whatever is behind those sounds.
The Bible verse is from Romans 8,
Verse 26.
Paul says,
In the same way,
The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness.
For we do not know how to pray as we ought,
But the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groaning.
I want to say a prayer.
God,
You know us even before we utter one word.
You know our inner emotional worlds more so than we even know ourselves.
We pray without words,
Just with sounds,
In this time of need,
Outrage,
Strength and weakness.
And we find comfort that those sounds,
Even if some are silent,
Are carried,
Held and understood by your supportive Spirit.
Amen.
