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by David Anderson

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Prayer in Time of War

February 24, 2022 by David Anderson 14 Comments

The Invasion has begun, the headline blares in towering letters, all in bold. 

Shelling. Number dead. Civilians covered in blood. 

When I sit quietly this morning, the reading—something about God’s unconditional love—seems flat, distant, untrue. Then the book closes and it is time to settle in, quiet the mind, be still and invite the Presence. But this falls flat, too. How can you sit quietly while the world burns? 

The impulse is to say, This is a pressing moment. Just make some coffee and turn on the television. But if prayer is more than a lovely refuge, and instead a place of centering power, then sitting here is more necessary than ever. 

Someone said that prayer begins as the place you go to, and gradually becomes the place you come from. 

Prayer in time of war feels crazy, irrational, a romantic pastime. Actually, as I think of it, that is what prayer any day looks like to most people. War just heightens the apparent foolishness. What do we think we are accomplishing in the stillness? How does breathing make any difference? 

But those are the exact same questions we ask ourselves when we pray, especially in time of crisis and violence. It feels pointless. Yet what is assaulting us out there is always what is roiling us in here. “These conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?” (James 1:4). 

Any decent prayer for peace starts by locating the war within. If we are to be, in St. Francis’ eternal words, “instruments of thy peace,” we will have to sit quietly and invite that peace first to quell the selfish conflicts in our own hearts. Then we can get up, make the coffee, read the news, find out where our particular gifts are needed, and go to work for peace.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michael says

    February 24, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    “locating the war within.” Thank you, David. Those words are worth the entire post.

    Reply
    • David Anderson says

      February 24, 2022 at 10:21 pm

      Yes—that’s the heart of it all.

      Reply
  2. Melissa Graves says

    February 24, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    Amen

    Reply
  3. Barrie Summers says

    February 24, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    Thank you David for this – it has helped me. I said today that prayer for this war was pointless. I will now go and pray.

    Reply
    • David Anderson says

      February 24, 2022 at 10:28 pm

      That’s the best!

      Reply
  4. Tiffany Van Elslander says

    February 24, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    I am so happy to see you writing again – I’ve so missed it and we miss you at St. Luke’s! Thank you for this – I needed it!

    Reply
  5. Michele Bunn says

    February 25, 2022 at 1:44 am

    Thank you for writing about this war as only you could David. It is comforting to read what you write.

    Reply
  6. Millena coffey says

    February 25, 2022 at 6:04 am

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts

    Reply
  7. Ellie Massie says

    February 25, 2022 at 7:18 am

    Thank you, David, for being here today.

    Reply
    • David Anderson says

      February 25, 2022 at 8:18 am

      We are here for one another

      Reply
  8. Julie Potter says

    February 25, 2022 at 11:39 am

    Lent approaching & war within.
    Fetch The Presence & focus &
    be still. White, clean snow here
    this hour but the desert ahead.
    T.Y. David ~ julie

    Reply
  9. Rick Lansill says

    February 25, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    David, I truly needed this. It seems so right to have you in my sometimes questionable mind. My empty house isn’t so empty.

    Love, RickL

    Reply
  10. Nancy Hooper says

    February 25, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    Thank you David for your writing and your thinking. It helps!
    Nancy

    Reply
  11. Brian Angerame says

    February 28, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply

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