Pray Without Ceasing

"....the desire of the wicked comes to nothing." (Psalm 112:10b) This verse from the end of Psalm 112 is reiterated in various ways throughout the Book of Psalms. We are witnessing its truth once again in the unfolding events in Egypt. The repressive 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak is about to be overthrown by a popular uprising which seeks freedom, justice and the right of the people to protest and express themselves. Whatever glories Mubarak envisioned as being his political legacy will be swallowed up by the revelation to the world, through these events, of the true nature of his regime. Nobel Prize laureate Mohamed EdBaradei has emerged as a powerful spokesperson for the uprising. “This is the work of a barbaric regime that is in my view doomed,” he said in today's New York Times. “They are completely desperate. We have been walking in a peaceful demonstration. This is our basic right. And I hope the pictures will be everywhere to see how barbaric, h...

  From Psalm 15, appointed for this coming Sunday: "O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart...." Has there been a better public example of this in recent memory than Kansas City Royals pitcher Gil Meche, who just walked away from a $12 million contract because he believed he was not holding up his end of the bargain? This fine story details his decision to simply walk away from the incredible wealth that was due him under the terms of his contract, because his contributions to the team, he contended, were not worth it. The story, one virtually unheard of in the suffocating wealth of professional sports, offers a heartening reminder of the indelible power of truth-telling. Of course, Meche is hardly destitute, having already taken in $40 million from the Royals to date. But it's a far cry from Mo Vaughn of the Mets, who made $15 million in 2004 even th...

 It is impossible to come to terms with the horror of this past Saturday's shootings in Arizona, for there is no way to comprehend such an act. But thoughtful reading of news reports since then has affirmed the truth proclaimed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:5: "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart." In this case, many of the "things" in question have been known to those who follow Arizona politics closely but are now being articulated on the national stage. These include the general political climate in Arizona, a state with a long and troubled history of opposition to the celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday; Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's harsh anti-immigration stance ; the state's scarily permissive gun laws ; and the ways in which conservative talk radio in Tucson has fanned the flames of anti-im...