March 9, 2022
A Rant. A Rave. A Prayer.
O Lord, I just need to rant and rave for a while,
let it fly,
get it out,
just say it,
the anger I feel, how
sick to death I am,
sick to death of thugs,
sick to death of thugs
threatening,
terrifying,
terrorizing;
and heading the list
is that Russian thug, that
vile, vicious, venomous, vomitous, Vladimir, that
monstrous, murderous, Moscow madman, that
pernicious, perverse, Putin,
wreaking havoc on the Ukraine,
bringing untold suffering,
enjoying every minute
of his
evil, egotistical, exercise
of deathly power,
a thug
who loves
to kill,
kill freedom,
kill the innocent,
kill children;
and those thugs
at the malls,
thugs shooting
thugs,
scared shoppers scrambling,
guards now patrolling,
gun dogs now sniffing,
gracious Lenox now gone;
and those thugs
who praise thugs,
political thugs praising
political thugs;
and thugs
on the road,
in the air,
thugs everywhere;
and I’m
sick to death of it;
sick to death of feeling scared
that the world is about to be blown up;
sick to death of feeling scared
to take a grandchild to the mall;
sick to death of feeling scared
on the road;
sick to death of being
sick to death;
and
the anger,
the thought of thugs
filling me with anger,
anger at what’s happening,
anger at the never-ending violence,
anger at how helpless we seem to be,
at least me,
helpless
to do anything
except
rant and rave
and pray.
And you, Lord, you must want to rant and rave too,
you must be burning hot with
anger,
anger at what we do to one another on this earth,
anger at the cruelty and violence and killing,
anger at the horrors we bring
down on ourselves,
anger
because
it need not be.
And that’s
the sadness of it,
the sorrow of it,
the sin of it,
day after day
our seeing what a world without you is like,
and yet refusing to
repent,
return to you,
turn away from all that is
destroying us,
even though
you turn
toward us
again and again
with a love
beyond all telling.
O Lord, forgive us and help us to return to your way,
the only way peace will ever come,
the way of loving you and the neighbor,
the way of obedience;
and to turn
our anger
into
your anger,
a righteous anger
that
keeps us from simply accepting thuggery;
keeps us praying for the courage to
not give in to thuggery;
keeps us standing strong against
thuggery in all its forms;
a righteous anger
that
doesn’t ignore
what is wrong,
seeks to do
what is right,
and refuses to despair.
And we pray, O Lord, for the people of the Ukraine
in their fight to remain free,
in their untold suffering,
in their profound sorrow and grief;
and for the refugees
fleeing for their lives,
especially the children.
We pray
that the nations of the world
will remain united
against Russia
and that
Ukraine will emerge
victorious.
And just as the people
of eastern Europe
have opened their homes to refugees,
move us to open our hearts to them, and wallets too,
and give them hope.
And we pray as well
for those among us and near to us
who are ill,
who are dying,
who are grieving,
who are battling depression,
who are hungry or homeless.
Heal, comfort, console, nourish, and lift them up!
O Lord, while it feels so good to let it fly,
get it out,
rant and rave,
still,
it’s not enough,
thugs remain
and will remain,
until we
return to you
and find courage enough
and strength enough
to defeat
the thugs
of this world.
Amen.