No Comment - just prayers

Andrew Bryant, Network Norfolk columnist, suggests that, following a week of turmoil in Parliament, our prayers are needed more urgently than our opinions
 

11th September 2019

After the past week in Parliament, it is tempting to want to write a comment, to add to the host of words already written.  Everybody seems to want to have their say, to add their two-pennyworth to the ongoing saga that is our political life in 2019
 
How should we respond to the daily evolving events that everyone seems helpless to change or stop?  Despite growing feelings of helplessness that many feel, we must never forget that Christians have always affirmed the value of the small act – the power of the yeast in the dough
 
So, may we be encouraged to remember that all members of Parliament are beloved of God, as are indeed all members of the human family.  We are brothers and sisters under God and must not demonise others – even if they demonise us
 
Never forget the importance of prayer. Not the type of prayer that seeks to get God on our side but that which genuinely holds a situation, our confusion, our uncertainty, our powerlessness, before God.  In the midst of the storm, it is the importance of standing silently before God - and waiting
 
And, if we are to ask anything of God, then let it be a prayer for wisdom – deep wisdom.  When in a stuck place it is only divine wisdom that can save us – a wisdom that may often seem foolish to the wise
 
Then when we are tempted to react to the latest development in this seemingly never-ending story, may we each take time to pause, to see the weakness in our own argument and to see what it may be we can learn from the comments of those with whom we most disagree
 
Perhaps precisely because so much is being said by so many, we each need to learn to say less and then only speak words which are healing, making sure our words do not hurt, divide or judge
 
A frail offering in a stormy sea perhaps but surely it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness
 
Enough words - time to stop. No comment: just prayers
 
the image above is courtesy of skeeze from Pixabay.com
 

 
The Revd Andrew Bryant is the Canon for Mission and Pastoral Care at Norwich Cathedral. He was previously Team Rector of Portishead, Bristol, in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and has served in parishes in the Guildford and Lichfield Dioceses, as well as working for twelve years with Kaleidoscope Theatre, a charity promoting integration through theatre for young adults with Down’s Syndrome
 
You can read Andrew's latest blog entry here 
 

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