Praying for Peace and Justice on March 1, 2026
Holy One, our world as we live it here and now, seems to have become a community of suffering and destruction of others. Many of us here live lives in protected communities, so far, that is. We pray that our own actions support Peace and Justice in our world. We can demonstrate in the No Kings Events, we can support with our domestic giving organizations that promote Peace and Justice, we can write our support of Peace and Justice to our leaders, we can reach out to our immediate communities to collaborate with others in support of Peace and Justice. May we be clear-eyed and focused on ways we can promote Peace and Justice for all. Inspire us to stay focused on those whose needs far exceed their personal situations to live in Peace and Justice. Inspire us to join efforts that promote our communities to have compassion and love in the face of evil and darkness. Amen
Background
These days the goals of Peace and Justice can seem far away – unreachable, even. And so suffering continues. I’m reading a book which attempts to explain the Bible. The author says “The matter of human suffering is the deepest conundrum in our human situation.”
This past week has had a few challenges in suffering for me – a cold that laid me in bed for a few days and cancel events I value. I also had a family member in distress that took my attention and care. Not big suffering, but enough to attune me to the world outside my life. That is greater suffering, and our prayers for Peace and Justice mostly target these large overhanging suffering of others.
The writer I quoted continues “The God of infinite love and compassion is forever working in the midst of whatever evil, darkness and death come our way, seeking to give new life and hope. God’s response of compassion and love to the evil and darkness in the world is a process without end. “
While I lingered to recover from my simple cold, I regretted missing the day of lobbying the State legislature for a law to close loopholes to protect our personal data from federal access to use in immigration enforcement. MD Governor Moore has already signed into law 287G that bans local law enforcement agreements to collaborate with ICE essentially doing federal immigration enforcement. There are other measures at the County that seek to protect people from the county doing the work of the federal immigration outside of work that is under law required of local authorities to support federal laws. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
Is this God acting in infinite love and compassion to mitigate suffering? To me it is. These actions are God working in the midst of us to promote Peace and Justice today in our County and State policies.