MOIRAJO
  • Weekly Devotionals
  • Weekly Message
  • Sermon Podcasts
  • Links
  • Contact

For the Love of Our Children

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Children are starving in Yemin.  A 7 year old dies in an detention camp in the U.S.  Children go missing.  Children are sold for food for the rest of the the family to survive.  And how can forget the Sandy Hook massacre six years ago?  This too is part of the Cristmas story, a part that is painful for us to look at. A part we would prefer to ignore. King Herod was leaving no stone unturned in his desire to kill Jesus, and rid himself of a supposed rival.  He didn't think twice of killing those baby boys in Bethlehem as long as he got to Jesus.

This is what Evil does.  It wants to destroy our hope. Our future. Our innocence. Our ties love and relationships.  It wants to plant seeds of despair; seeds of bitterness. It wants to train our hearts to see other people as "objects."   The same evil that drove Herod to kill has prompted countless others down the ages to kill, abuse and destroy human community.


God knew this. And God knew we were powerless to stop the Evil One, powerless even on our own to change our hearts.  So God sent Innocence into the world. God sent us a Future, a Hope; someone to connect to -- in Jesus. In Jesus, God forever binds Godself to every grieving parent and every parent made a refugee. and every hope held by a loving adult for the children in their midst. In Jesus, God reaffirms a priority to care for children and the vulnerable. In an age when children were loved but treated strictly, taught to work hard, taught not to speak unless spoken to, Jesus told his disciples, who were scolding some children to stay away : "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."Matt. 19:14. The Bible frequently calls us to care for orphans, Psalm 68:5 even calling God "Father of the Fatherless." God is the Father who embraces the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32).  


May the tragic events of this Advent season remind us that evil  is carried out every day, somewhere in our world. May it make us loving advocates and protectors for the "least of these." With God's help, may we never cease to act in the name of the One who emptied himself and made himself the Least of the Least, so we might have life in his name.

PRAY: We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper,  who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes. And we pray, for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

       We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, Who sleep with the cat and bury goldfish, Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, Who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, Who slurp their soup.

      And we pray for those  who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal,who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.

     We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

    And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist,who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being. We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance. For those we smother…and for those who will grab the hand of anybody

kind enough to offer it.
We pray for children. 
 "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,Refusing to be comforted,  Because they are no more. Matt. 2:16-18"



LISTEN TO:  Maria Muldaur, cover of Bob Dylan's "Lord, Protect My Child"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVxGLAU7AMA



The tragedy of the Newtown, CT. school shooting last week reminds us of a sobering fact: mass murder has always been a part of the Christmas story, a part that is painful for us to look at. A part we would prefer to ignore. King Herod was leaving no stone unturned in his desire to kill Jesus, and rid himself of a supposed rival.  He didn't think twice of killing those baby boys in Bethlehem as long as he got to Jesus.


This is what Evil does.  It wants to destroy our hope. Our future. Our innocence. Our ties love and relationships.  It wants to plant seeds of despair; seeds of bitterness. It wants to train our hearts to see other people as "objects."   The same evil that drove Herod to kill has prompted countless others down the ages to kill, abuse and destroy human community.


God knew this. And God knew we were powerless to stop the Evil One, powerless even on our own to change our hearts.  So God sent Innocence into the world. God sent us a Future, a Hope; someone to connect to -- in Jesus. In Jesus, God forever binds Godself to every grieving parent and every parent made a refugee. and every hope held by a loving adult for the children in their midst. In Jesus, God reaffirms a priority to care for children and the vulnerable. In an age when children were loved but treated strictly, taught to work hard, taught not to speak unless spoken to, Jesus told his disciples, who were scolding some children to stay away : "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."Matt. 19:14. The Bible frequently calls us to care for orphans, Psalm 68:5 even calling God "Father of the Fatherless." God is the Father who embraces the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32).  


May the tragic events of this Advent season  remind us that "Sandy Hook" is carried out every day, somewhere in our world. May it make us loving advocates and protectors for the "least of these." With God's help, may we never cease to act in the name of the One who emptied himself and made himself the Least of the Least, so we might have life in his name.


  
PRAY: We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper,  who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes. And we pray, for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

       We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, Who sleep with the cat and bury goldfish, Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, Who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, Who slurp their soup.

      And we pray for those  who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal,who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.

     We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

    And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist,who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being. We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance. For those we smother…and for those who will grab the hand of anybody

kind enough to offer it.
We pray for children. Amen

   http://www.appleseeds.org/childpry.htm

 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    Bible,  Living life on life's terms, spirituality

    RSS Feed

© Moira Ahearne 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.