Find the ashes. Work for beauty.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent. Appropriately, it is also an international day of prayer and fasting for the crisis in Ukraine. As you read this post, millions of people around the world are taking time today to focus their prayers upon the tragic circumstances escalating in Eastern Europe.
Will you join them?
This war is seems too big to ignore. However, perhaps we've been ignoring it, and other wars like it, for longer than we think. Did you know:
The Ukraine-Russian conflict (which began in *2014* when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea) has already cost 50,000 casualties and displaced 1.5 million people.
The escalation in the Ukraine-Russia war is not the only conflict happening in the world. There are currently violent conflicts in 27 different nations. The five worst are found in Ukraine, Yemen, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Myanmar - each of which have caused over 10,000 deaths in the past year.
I suspect we all have at least some awareness of what is happening in Ukraine. How could we not? It's all over the news. Ukraine is under siege. Many nations are retaliating with sanctions. It is good that we are aware because Ukraine needs our prayers.
But do we also know what is happening in Yemen (31,000 deaths last year)? Or how about the Tigray War in Ethiopia (19,000 deaths last year)? Without diminishing the tragedy in Ukraine, are we also able to remember the 26 other nations who desperately seek peace from violence?
It is our role as God's people to pray for and work for beauty, justice, and peace on earth.
In Luke 4, Jesus stands in the middle of the synagogue to read and state how he fulfills the prophecy from Isaiah 61. As Christ's body on earth, we now take up this mantle. If we were to look at the first few verses of Isaiah 61, we would see that we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and...
"Bring good news to the poor..."
"Comfort the brokenhearted..."
"Proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed..."
"Tell those who mourn...
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come...
and he will give a crown of beauty for ashes and praise instead of despair.""Rebuild the ancient ruins...
Repair cities destroyed long ago...
Revive [what has] been deserted for many generations."
What would this look like in our lives today? How could this guide our prayers for Ukraine?
I understand why some folks prefer to avoid the news. It's almost always negative, and news agencies love to create clickbait headlines to draw you into their article. That said, renowned theologian Karl Barth is quoted as saying, "Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both."
Being aware of world issues helps us function as Christ's body on earth, because it help us to know more specifically what to pray and work for.
PAUSE and REFLECT: Lent is a season of reflection, repentance, and change. We help prepare ourselves for Good Friday and Easter Sunday by assessing our health in various relationships (e.g. with God, with others) and making changes that move us toward wellness, whether that change be removing something or adding something.
For example, we may assess that games on our phone have taken a larger part of our life than we want, so we "give them up" for Lent. Or we may assess that we have isolated ourselves from important friendships, so we decide to go out with a different friend or family member each week.
Given the crisis in Ukraine (and other places of conflict around the world), what is one thing we can change this Lenten season to better work for beauty, justice, and peace - in our own spirit, in our family, in our neighbourhood, in our workplace, or in the world?
Perhaps you may want to read the news headlines (from a reputable source) twice a week and choose one story to lead you into prayer.
Perhaps you may want to give up buying drinks from a coffee shop and use the money you save to donate to crisis relief.
Perhaps you may want to do one act of beauty (you decide what that means to you) in your neighbourhood each week.
Perhaps you may want to spend time doing a Bible study about social justice, or reading through some minor prophets during Lent.
Perhaps you may want to...
There are many ways a small change in heart and action on our part can be used to incarnate Isaiah 61 in our world. In other words, there are many ways to pray for and work for beauty, justice, and peace around us.
To what change might God be inviting you?
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Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash