God, as we hear news of icebergs breaking free of Greenland and glaciers melting, give us the motivation to protect all of your majestic creation. We pray for not just the penguins and polar bears, but for the people who live, work and breathe in these environments as well. Amen.
Lord, help us to live peaceful lives with our neighbors, especially those who hold different religious, ideological, or cultural beliefs than we do. For as your servant James said, peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. God, give us this wisdom that can only come from you. Amen.
Prayer from James 3:17-18
"Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public square, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled. The Lord saw it, and it displeased [God] that there was no justice."
- Isaiah 59:14-15+ Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail
"My hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A [person] who takes away another [person's] freedom is a prisoner of hatred ... is locked behind bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity."
- Nelson Mandela+ Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail
"What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance. In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light."
- Elizabeth Alexander from Priase Song for the Day+ Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail
God, help us to know how to pray for the economies and market places around the world. For those who make the big decisions, please give them wisdom and selflessness so that they can be just and effective leaders. Give them the eyes to see how their policies and procedures affect people throughout their company as well as their communities. Amen.
"What is my new desert? The name of it is compassion. There is no wilderness so terrible, so beautiful, so arid and so fruitful as the wilderness of compassion. It is the only desert that shall truly flourish like the lily. It shall become a pool, it shall bud forth and blossom and rejoice with joy. It is in the desert of compassion that the thirsty land turns into springs of water, that the poor possess all things."
- Thomas Mertonfrom The Sign of Jonas+ Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps."
- Matthew 25:1-4+ Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail
Whatever I fear the most, Lord Jesus, I put into your loving hands, knowing You will give me peace and courage. Let me never compromise my stand for you. Amen.
Adapted from Billy Graham's Daily Devotion
EDITOR'S NOTE: Melinda Gates talks to the Guardian (UK) newspaper about reconciling her Catholic faith — the wife of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says she attends mass regularly — with her work promoting family planning. Gates was in London this week to discuss promoting contraception in the developing world with UK government representatives. The Gates Foundation hopes to encourage donor pledges that will enable 120 million women to have access to contraceptives by 2020.
A starving 2-year-old girl is comforted by her mother at a refugee camp in in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo by John Moore/Getty.
Every day, millions of children go hungry. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Hunger is the world's No. 1 health risk, causing more deaths annually worldwide than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. (Source: World Food Program)
One in seven people in the world will go to bed hungry tonite. (Source: World Food Program)
There are more hungry people in the world (925 million) than the combined population of the United States, Canada and the European Union (841 million) (Source: World Food Program)
Find out about the causes of hunger — and the solutions — in a new video from World Vision Australia (with music by Gotye) inside the blog...
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-California) & Ursula (The Little Mermaid) via Huffington Post
When you're in the public eye, it's only a matter of time before you're known, not by your name, but as "that guy who looks like Pinocchio." In this hilarious compilation of look-alikes, 26 politicians are paired next to the Disney character they best resemble. And for some the comparison couldn't be more spot on.
Bill Nye the Science Guy may not be a real scientist, but he tells CNN's news anchor that he knows how to read a chart, and when you look at the data on climate change, journalistic objectivity shouldn't try to obscure the facts. Watch Nye respond to climate change skeptics and discuss the conditions that led to the Colorado wildfires. [via CNN]
Loving God, we confess to you that we don't always get it right. We don't always love our neighbors as ourselves. Lord, help us to love you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Give us strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow and the weeks ahead. Amen
Last month, the U.S. Senate held its first hearing ever on the issue of solitary confinement in prisons. To draw attention to the issue, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture urged Americans to fast for 23 hours for one day, symbolizing the 23 hours a day prisoners spend in solitary confinement each day.
"Christian scriptures and the scriptures of all religions say much about the way we are to treat other human beings, especially the most vulnerable," said the Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of NRCAT. "And all religious traditions teach that it is important to honor and respect the dignity and worth that God has endowed in each human being. When we put people into solitary confinement cells, which we know are going to cause harm, then we have deeply violated that requirement from God to honor and respect each human being."
Almighty God, protect all the refugees in this country as well as internationally. Give them communities to comfort them and remind them of their home. Help domestic communities to rise up around those who are far from home and give them strength. Amen.
