If you are in an Australian Anglican church, and if you are following a Prayer Book, you'll ask God for something like this: "We pray for Elizabeth our Queen, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in authority." And you'll also pray for "all who hold public office in this land" that "all things may be ordered in wisdom, righteousness and peace, to the honour of your holy name and the good of your church and people". Etc.
A prayer to which I can say “Amen”.
Here in the States, we pray for the three levels of government: The Executive (the President), the Legislative (the Congress) and the Judiciary...
So tonight, we prayed for the President.
And then a few minutes after our service finishes, a few minutes after praying for him, the President actually drives past the front door of the church. [To be fair, I don't think it was him driving.]
W is here for the 9/11 5th Anniversary tomorrow.
It is my day off tomorrow. I am going to get up early and take the kiddos down to Ground Zero. We’ve made a friend here who recommended watching ‘Flight 93’ on DVD (I am mentioned in the last paragraph of this review). I watched it. And after seeing it, I decided then that I needed to be down at Ground Zero this year. We’ll be there, God willing, at 8:46am.
Wiki tells me that “No one onboard any of the hijacked aircraft survived. The fatalities were in the thousands, with 2,973 people killed, including 246 on the four planes, 2,602 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. Among the fatalities were 343 New York City Fire Department firefighters, 23 New York City Police Department officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers. An additional 24 people remain listed as missing in the attack on the World Trade Center to this day.”
Pray for Presidents and Prime Ministers indeed.
I do not envy their jobs.
Love, Justin.
PS Anthony Philips is a good mate at Christchurch St Ives. Click on this to read his story - AP describes his experience at the WTC on 911.
3 comments:
2 verses from Romans came to mind:
12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
5 years (exactly) since 9/11
6 years (exactly) since i became a Christian.
I believe that this terrible event helped strengthen my resolve as a young believer. I can't imagine the affect it would have had on me without Christ in my life.
Prayers are with you and your (new) city Justin.
there's in no way i can describe what we - then new yorkers - felt as we experienced it That Day: the constant sadness, weepiness, and just overall "Why, God?"
I remember feeling particularly sad & horrible for little ones who a) saw people jumping from the buildings from their public schools and b) who lost their parents that day. Please pray for the kids who lost their parents...who might grow up to question God, "WHY?"
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