Streams of Mercy

In the current issue of the Presbyterian Outlook, I read these words in an article “Keeping the Unity of the Spirit”:

“In a time of great division and few nuanced conversations, people of faith have an increased responsibility to work toward reconciliation. Such unity comes only by way of the Spirit — and yet we have a role to play in speaking the truth in love, staying at the table and refusing to give up on the promise that Jesus Christ brings together every tribe and nation.”

The Easter Sunday shooting in Sri Lanka and the shooting in the synagogue in California on the last day of Passover, remind us how far we have to go to be reconciled to one another, and to find the peace that is Jesus’ gift to his disciples in every age – a peace that passes understanding, a peace the world cannot give.

I shared with our children from the PCUSA’s Children’s Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, a story about mission work in Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, with people from many different backgrounds and religions – Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. For 25 years, a civil war has been fought there between the government and a rebel group.

“God’s love for you is abundant,” the story tells us. “No matter what you do, it will always be there. One place you can see God’s abundant love is in the kindness and consideration shown by the people around you.”

In the midst of on-going civil war, the Joining Hands Network (Praja Abhilasha) of Sri Lanka gathers people from all these groups to work together. They show one another kindness, and offer the hospitality and comfort of their homes and share their food.

Let us refuse to give up on the promises of Jesus and pray for the working of the Holy Spirit among us, as we struggle to stay at the table and to find words to speak the truth in love, and be reconciled to one another.

Elizabeth