"Help Us!" they write

 

On Wednesday we got word from Greenland, “Help us!” The Lutheran Bishop of Greenland expressed the great worries of her people, and urged us Americans “to write to their representatives on Capitol Hill to ask them to stand by Greenlanders in their right to determine their own future.”

On Thursday all 6 ELCA Bishops of Minnesota wrote a letter saying, “Help us!” expressing the profound fear and anxiety of the people in that state, our fellow citizens. “We are tired, and our hearts are broken. Yet we are not deterred… Go to church… ground yourselves in Scripture, and surround yourselves with those who will echo the voice of God for you. This is the nourishment that will sustain us… join calls for a thorough investigation into this case, accountability for the shooting and a de-escalation of ICE enforcement across the United States.”

On Friday we received yet another missive, this time from Canadian, Danish, and American Lutheran Bishops pleading, “Help us!” Writing, “We pray for peace and respect between nations… We invite you to write to your elected leaders and tell them to respect the independence of Greenland and the Greenlandic people.”

Help us, they write. Pray for and with us. Root yourself in faith and speak up for us. Care, for God’s sake, please care. Please help us.

Here is a link to find and contact your Representative, and here are two prayers.

“Almighty and everlasting God, we come before you in prayer for our nation. We pray that you would bless all elected officials with the wisdom and courage needed to best serve the common good of people. May they govern with a spirit of reverence for your will and respect for the will of the people. We especially pray for our president, our governor, our legislators, and those who serve in the court system. Amen.” (Minister’s Prayer Book, page 45)

“O Lord, make me the instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Lord, grant that we seek not to be consoled, but to console; not to be understood, but to understand; not to be loved, but to love. For it is in giving that we receive, in forgetting that we find ourselves, in pardoning that we are pardoned, and in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.” (Minister’s Prayer Book, page 176)