Thy Kingdom Come

This week, the United Nations finally found that the North Korean government has been violating the rights of its people and is calling for an inquiry into human rights abuses that have gone on under Kim Jong Un’s dictatorship.  This week, riots, peaceful marches and protesting have been carried out all over Mexico as thousands of people come together to seek justice for the unexplained disappearance of 43 students.  This week, yet more women have come forward claiming to have been raped many years ago by one of our nation’s role models: Bill Cosby.

And this is just one week out of 52 this year, a year where we’ve seen civil unrest and violence break out in the Ukraine, outbreaks of Ebola spread around the globe, the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 along with all her passengers as well as the shot-down of Flight 17 by Ukrainian missiles, escalated fighting in the Gaza strip between Israel and Palestine, rising tensions between the United States and Russia, 276 women and girls kidnapped and held hostage in Nigeria, the countless murders and destruction led by ISIS militants in order to dominate parts of the Middle East, Robin William’s shocking suicide, the migration of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America inundating the U.S. border, and the large break out of riots in Ferguson in protest after the shooting of the young man, Michael Brown.

Wow.

Remembering all of this has shocked me into sitting in silence, taken aback at how violent a race we can be.  How can such blatant violence exist in society?  How can government -sanctioned torture 

and murder go unpunished?  How can the world turn a blind eye to the Truth?

Easy.

If my backyard is clean and pretty, why should I care what my neighbor’s backyard looks like as long as there’s a fence there blocking my view?  No harm, no foul.

I’m poor.  Why should I waste my resources and energy and money on others when I can barely support myself?  I need to focus on what’s important here.

No one will listen to me, of all people.  Let’s be honest, I’m a nobody.  I have no power, no fame, no means to do anything.  So why should I fight an uphill battle and waste everybody’s time not actually accomplishing anything?  It’s just not logical.

Ok, wait a second.  What will it cost me?  Will it be safe?  I don’t want to jeopardize my life here.  Going out to save someone from suffering and then suffering myself wouldn’t make much sense.  In fact, that’s like increasing the problem.

Hold up, we very well can’t go around forcing our beliefs on others or offend them with our beliefs or anything.  It’s not our place!  If we all want our freedom then we have to respect others in their freedoms.  As long as it doesn’t infringe on my rights.  Then I’m calling the police.

What violence?  We live in a democratic world, not the dark ages!  Hitler died ages ago.  That kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore.  Besides in Africa or the Middle East, but that’s different.  Seriously, I don’t know where you get your facts from but you can’t listen to anything from the news or on the internet.  They’re all lies.

Well, we don’t live in a perfect world.  There will always be violence and suffering.  As long as it’s over there and distracted by its own success over there then I will be fine with my better than normal life over here.  Besides, why fight humanity, our very essence?  You can’t change who we are.

See?

Deep down, our tainted hearts and minds cloud the goodness and purity of our Creator-given souls.  

We can’t escape it.  Actually, we don’t want to.  It’s easier (and safer) to blow out the candle than to protect its fire.

Apathy is the death of life, not hate.  Ignorance is the death of humanity, not violence.  Arrogance is the death of goodness, not malice. 

We are our own worst enemies.  So in whom can we rely?

Lord, this world is just too heavy to bear anymore.  Why can we not look at our neighbor and see your face looking back at us?  Why does our sinful nature always have to clamp itself around our neck like a heavy chain, weighing us down so that goodness lies just out of our reach?  Why can’t we break free?

I know, Lord, you have set us free and one day we will be whole again.  I know.  And yet this wait is so painful, Father, so painful. 

And so I pray today, Father, for all of us.  I pray that our hearts of stone may be shattered by your light.  I pray that we your people may step forth, hand in hand, and boldly go out to recklessly love those we find along the way.  I pray that we may embrace both our friend and our enemy.  I pray that we speak loud and act even louder.  I pray that we will not be silent in the face of violence, that we will seek both justice and mercy.  Above all, I pray that we will give you all the glory and all the honor in our every waking moment.   

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.

And please may it come soon!

Amen.

Stay tuned!