Gethsemane

They went to a place called Gethsemane. Mark 14:32
Sometimes we don't know how to pray and sometimes we feel a particular passion for a situation that needs prayer and sometimes we need to go to a quiet place and just 'be' with God. Sometimes the act of lighting a candle or smelling a perfumed flower can be a deep and profound prayer  and connection with God. As I looked at the ancient olive trees in the  garden of Gethsemane I had a sense of the deep anguish of Jesus as he prayed to his Father , perhaps at first not knowing quite what to pray for.
I was particularly struck by the prayer in the cloisters of St Georges Cathedral Jerusalem that to me seemed to come from a situation that required sensitive encompassing  prayer. It was written by  a Palestinian  Christian and it reads

like this:
Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli pray rather for ourselves that we might not  divide them in our prayers but keep them both together in our hearts. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Be bold and strong

Be strong and bold;have no fear or dread of them because it is the Lord your God who goes with you;he will not fail you or forsake you. Deut 31:6

What a troubled world we live in and its hard at times to put that in any sort of perspective as I walked this morning in a fresh morning frost, quiet and peace yet my heart carried a weight of the world's troubles.
I suspect for many who are grieving and suffering it would be easy to give into fear and to give up on living but we don't and we must not because God has given us a faith. Faith is something hard to explain at times but is really is as simple as 'I believe' and if that's the concept we have as Christians then that should give us an inner sense that God is in control of all things, he is present and a well of strength and peace when we feel our world is out of control and we are downcast. We struggle but we hold onto that faith.  As people of God and people of faith and belief we need to be able to be present and  strengthen those who may be feeling a 'crack'  in their faith in these troubled times. Prayer, our prayers are the hope of the troubled world.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

pray for the peace, pray for the peace

How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Ps 73:19
There are many dark places full of haunts of violence in the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem and indeed as we see, in the world..  To the sound of wailing air raid sirens I watched combat, missile carrying helicopters fly over and  cloud the otherwise bright sky of Jerusalem, I couldn't help but  think how swift and unexpected violence can be. Moments ago I had been preparing for my days outing in peace and quiet and suddenly I found myself running for the air raid shelter. War erupted over the kidnap and death of three Israeli boys and the retaliation of the brutal death of a Palestinian boy. And today there is a personal tension of praise to God and grief.  I arrived home safely on my flight but 298 people on another flight didn't.
Where is God in all of this we may well ask. I answer myself  by saying God is healing, comforting, strengthening and loving as Jerusalem churches (and churches around the world) provide sanctuary, education and other assistance to all. The churches are a sanctuary and the voice of the voiceless speaking out loudly for change. Every evening at Evensong in St Georges Cathedral we ended the service with the quiet repetitious chant of: Pray for the peace, pray for the peace, pray for the peace of Jerusalem ( the world) I find now each evening after Compline I quietly sing that same chant. How are you the voice of the church in our turbulent world?