Praying the News | Blog | Spirituality & Practice

Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 15, 2014

God of Heaven and Earth, we give thanks for all the ways in which you reveal yourself to us in both ordinary and extraordinary ways.

Polls: A Harris Poll finds that while a strong majority (74 %) of U.S. adults do believe in God, this belief is in decline when compared to previous years when over four in five (82%) expressed a belief in God. A belief in Heaven also declined from 75% to 68%. A Pew Research Center Poll reveals that 65%
who claim a religious affiliation think many religions, not just their own religion, can lead to eternal life. Or to put it another way, heaven is not a gated community. (Harris Interactive)

Miracle Worker, open our hearts, minds, and souls to people of all religions. Teach us tolerance of all beliefs about God and Heaven. If heaven is not a gated, neither should our hearts be closed.

A Prayer about Climate Change

Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 7, 2014

Great God, a new U.N. Report on the reality of climate change sounds an alarm about the devastating impact of global warming on all dimensions of our lives and lifestyle.

Report & Polls: This week a United Nations panel released a three-volume report on climate change based on 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. Global warming is already having dire effects on food supplies, plants, and animals. Mass extinctions are already underway. Wars over resources are on the horizon. In 2013, only 34% of Americans felt climate change should be a priority of the U.S. Congress. Even more shocking from the same study found that 26% of Americans think there is no solid evidence that the Earth has gotten warmer over the past two decades. (Pew Research Center)

Dear Ageless One, please touch our minds and hearts with the facts about climate change. Encourage us to act before we destroy the Earth you created. Help us to change our ways so that poor people, animals, and plants may not become collateral damage of climatic changes.

A Prayer of Gratitude for Internet Creators and Curators

Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 1, 2014

Lover of Creativity, we are so thankful for all the creative and curating skills of so many bloggers and social network users. They enrich our lives immensely.

Survey: A Pew Research Center survey discovered some interesting things about Internet users.
· 54% of adult Internet users post photos or videos online that they themselves have created. We call them creators.
· 47% of adult Internet users take photos or videos that they have found online and repost them on sites designed for sharing images. We call them curators.
· Overall, 62% of Internet users do at least one of the creating or curating activities, and 40% of internet users are both creators and curators. (Pew Research Center)

Wellspring of Innovation and Sharing, encourage us in our creating and curating projects. Inspire us to make them not only ways we share our personal interests but also contributions to making our world a better and more just place.

A Prayer for Strength, Patience, Courage and Hope for the Catholic Protestors Who Broke into the Nuclear Sanctum

Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 26, 2014

Companion of the Sorrowing, we give thanks for the three Catholic activists whose witness calls us to join in the protest against the continuing military madness of keeping so many deadly nuclear weapons in our country.

Fact: Three antiwar activists were recently sentenced to long prison terms and heavy fines for their nonviolent action at the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Greg Boerje-Obed, 58, of Duluth, and Michael Walli, 65, of Washington, D.C. were sentenced to 62 months in prison. Sister Megan Rice, 84, of New York City, received a 35-month sentence in prison. (The Peaceworker.org)

Keeper of Souls, we send you our prayers for these crusaders and ask that you give them courage, patience, strength, and hope as they bear the indignity and unjust confinement of prison for their acts of conscience.

A Prayer for Discernment by Wealthy Baby Boomers

Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 17, 2014

Wise and Faithful Guide, wealthy Baby Boomers are beginning to make choices about what to do with their money: pass it on to their children, spend it now, or give it away to charity, as some of the superrich like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg have said they will do through the "giving pledge."

Fact: In the United States, the top 1% of households owns about 35% of the wealth, more than the entire bottom 90% does. Now the Baby Boomers are retiring and an inheritance boom is underway, entrusting the immense earnings of an already stratified economy to a new generation. As income and wealth have become distributed less evenly, the inherited spoils will be distributed unevenly, too. No wonder American mobility seems so stuck: odds of escaping poverty are half of what they are in countries such as Denmark. (The New York Times)

O Restorer of Balance, we are troubled by the upward trend of income inequality, and we are aware that conscious giving can reduce it. Guide rich Baby Boomers in their discernment about what to do with their money. Help them see the broad good they can do through charitable gifts and private foundations. And help us all appreciate the impact of generosity.

A Prayer of Gratitude for All People Who Have Good Values

Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 14, 2014

Perpetual Becoming, help us not to look down our noses at those who do not believe as we do and keep us both mindful and grateful for all who seek to do good in the world.

Poll: Many people think it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. This position is highly prevalent, if not universal, in Africa and the Middle East. In North America and Europe, more people agree that it is possible to be non-religious and still be an upright person. A Pew Research Center survey concludes that publics in richer nations tend to place less emphasis on the need to believe in God to have good values than people in poorer countries do. (Pew Research Center)

O Holy Unifier, help adherents of all the world's religions and those who are non-religious to unite in our efforts to express our good values by repairing the broken places in our world.

A Prayer for Those Whose Jobs Are Disappearing

Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 7, 2014

Fountain of Mercy, the human touch is increasingly being replaced by machines. Deliver us from the worship of speed and efficiency and help us to see that the self-checkout trend is ending jobs and putting people out of work.

Fact: What do librarians, travel agents, video store clerks, supermarket cashiers, and newspaper deliverers have in common? They are among 12 Jobs that are vanishing. The self-checkout phenomenon is also common in grocery stores and pharmacies. (Salary.com)

Vigilant One, encourage those who are losing their jobs to machines so that they can find another kind of work. And be with those who are trying to save jobs by refusing to use self-checkout machines and by adding their voices to the chorus of those who prefer human beings to machines, especially in businesses they use frequently.

A Prayer for the Fish of the World in Peril

Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 3, 2014

Giver of All, we are saddened by the news that the world's fish are in danger from overfishing by large commercial fleets. We know that when fish die off, all of marine life is threatened.

Fact: A 2003 scientific report estimated that industrial fishing had reduced the number of large ocean fish to just 10 percent of their pre-industrial population. A study of catch data published in 2006 in the journal Science predicts that if fishing rates continue apace, all the world's fisheries will have collapsed by the year 2048. (The Ocean - NationalGeographic.com)

Dweller in the Rainbow, millions of people depend upon fishing for their livelihoods and for nutrition. Inspire the nations of the world to work together to set rules for catching fish to ensure a future for marine life and all those beings, human and animal, who rely on this food source.

A Prayer of Thanks for Landmine Removers

Posted by Frederic Brussat on February 26, 2014

Force of Life, we give you thanks for those working to remove dangerous landmines in Cambodia and other countries, including APOPO's HeroRATS, African Giant Pouched rats who are trained to detect mines buried in the ground.

Fact: Reports shows that landmine deaths and injuries over the past decades now total in the hundreds of thousands. In Cambodia, a country of almost 15 million people, there are estimates of 10 million landmines. The toll on citizens has been catastrophic: 40,000 live as amputees, one of the highest rates in the world. The good news is that mines are now a problem only in certain parts of Cambodia. (The Huffington Post)

Lord of All Calm, open the eyes of more people to the dangers and the destructiveness of landmines which injure innocent civilians, restrict movement, displace families, and ruin farming and all other productive activities. May those trying to eliminate this scourge get the support they need.

A Prayer for Those Facing a Retirement Crisis

Posted by Frederic Brussat on February 19, 2014

Wise and Faithful Guide, we are worried about the future. Many of us will face money problems when we retire from work, if we are even able to retire from work.

Facts: A stunning 45 percent of all American households with people still in their working years have nothing at all saved for retirement. Among those aged 50 to 64, 75 percent have less than $28,000 put away. Even among the most prepared Baby Boomer households, savings average just $140,000, far too little to fund a 20-plus-year retirement. (National Institute on Retirement Security)

Fountain of Wisdom, send your comforting spirit to those facing a retirement crisis, so that they are not immobilized by fear. Give them hope and strength to find ways to spend less and save more.

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