Army of Priests

The other day I was contemplating the degree of our smallness compared to the size of our problems. Global Poverty is a huge problem, and despite all the aid organisations it is a long way from being fixed. Greed is too strong.

No matter how many resolutions are ratified by governments or how strongly worded we write the acts of the Geneva convention torture will remain common in our world.

No matter how much love we pour on people they often just don’t seem to change. Drug addictions seem too strong, and biter thoughts to common, to defeat. There doesn’t seem like much we can do.

Heck, I struggle even to have enough discipline in my own life to maintain the time with God that I would like to, or exercise enough, or stop some repeated sin. If I don’t even have power over myself how can I help fight the problems in our world?

But that’s why we pray. Because we can’t save ourselves. Only God can.

I can give someone food, only God can solve their hunger. I can show someone love but only God can heal their pain.

Anything I do is invariably futile. Yet I do it anyway. Why? Because I believe God can make a difference.

My actions are statements of faith. They are futile in themselves but they represent my daring belief (or lack thereof) in God.

So when I give someone bread it is my act of prayer for God to solve their hunger. When I love someone it’s because I believe God can heal their pain.

I’m learning to live my life as a prayer.

I’m struggling to think of how to communicate what I want to. I have been newly reminded in the last few days of just how desperate and spiritually bankrupt I am. We truly are wretches and broken people in need of God.

So often I try to improve my relationship with God solely through my own efforts by reading my bible more or praying harder but I cant. No matter what I do I can not improve my stance with God by one iota. I also like to think that through study I can get an understanding of God but really I am nothing more than a blind man in the dark. Only God can flip the light switch.

We really are wretches. We really need God’s help. I’m getting sick of the parts of Christianity that think God is some ATM in the sky and like to proclaim that we are “heirs to the thrown” as through we Christians are something special. We’re not. We just have a really, really awesome God.

People who truly follow Jesus are just people who have had their pride painfully broken by encountering the overwhelming majesty and love of God. All the gospel is can be summed up as such: “We are broken. We are sinners. We are nothing. But God’s love overcomes our wretchedness.” That’s it.

God’s love changes everything. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. It’s hard to believe. It’s scary. If we can accept such overwhelming love all we can do with it is pass it on. If somehow there was a way that I could redeem myself then I would be in control. But God’s love is out of control and it is ferocious.

He’s all we’ve got. He really is. The only difference between me and a prostitute or a meth addict or a thief is that I know God loves me and they don’t yet. That’s it. Because there is nothing in my power that I can do to hold my life together. God is the only one.

I’m just learning how to be a child and depend on Him, rather than my own effort, to absolve my bankruptcy.

I am a subscriber to Avaaz, an organization dedicated to providing a voice for the world on issues of justice. I recieved the following email from them this morning that I thought would be worth passing on to you:

Dear friends,

On Monday, the International Criminal Court indicted Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir for genocide. He is charged with killing hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan and its Darfur region, and corralling the surviving women and girls into terrifying camps where they are being quietly and systematically raped until their peoples are destroyed.

In response, Al Bashir’s regime is threatening more terror against Darfurians and the UN, and appealing to powerful international friends who buy oil from and sell weapons to Sudan to give him protection. Al Bashir knows that he will be caught only if other governments, especially Arab and African governments, agree to help the International Criminal Court (for example by arresting him when he travels abroad).

Targeting Al Bashir is our best hope to end the terror of Darfur’s rape camps, and take a major step forward for international justice. Many of Sudan’s neighbours are Muslim countries where rape is a scandalous crime – and Al Bashir’s henchmen have killed and raped thousands of Muslim women. To raise awareness of this, Avaaz is launching a large regional ad campaign, urging leaders to help the ICC. Our ads will run in just a few days, and a full page ad in an Egyptian newspaper is just 3000Euros($5000), so we need just 50,000 Euros ($75,000) to get our message across. Click below to help:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_darfur

Many in the international community are concerned that this indictment will undermine attempts to make peace with Al Bashir, and even blame the ICC for threatening peace. Some of those concerns are just a cover for Sudan’s oil and arms dealing partners. Others are more legitimate, but must contend with Darfur’s victims and survivors, who have the most at stake, and are universally supportive of justice. They say they have seen Al Bashir break every agreement he has signed for 20 years, and that no lasting peace can be signed that leaves a genocidaire with the power to commit his crimes again.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a giant step forward for humankind – a single global court, with the power to try any person who has committed the worst crimes against humanity. It has an independent prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, and judges from Brazil, Latvia, and Ghana. This is the first time the ICC has indicted a sitting head of state, and all the world’s worst current and future mass criminals are watching closely. Let’s send them a clear message: that justice, and the rule of law, are on the march. Let’s help make it happen, and make sure that all our governments help the ICC to succeed in this first test, and end the terror of Darfur’s people.

With hope,

Ricken, Mark, Graziela, Pascal, Paul, Veronique, Iain, Ben and the whole Avaaz team.

PS – You can see report backs and achievements of recent Avaaz campaigns here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/report_back_1
Avaaz is a legally registered not for profit organization, and we do not receive any money from governments or corporations. We are funded and driven by our members, who come from every nation of the world.

PPS – Here are some links to more information:

The full text of the International Criminal Court statement:
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/otp/ICC-OTP-Summary-20081704-ENG.pdf
he Enough Project: “The Merits of Justice” (in Sudan)
http://www.enoughproject.org/files/reports/ICC_report_071408.pdf
New York Times: “Catching a war criminal in the act”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/opinion/15goldstone.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
BBC: “Profile: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7502973.stm