Blog Posts By God's Politics Editor

Justice is not peripheral to God's story. Justice — in its various forms — is mentioned over 200 times in the Scriptures. It's not optional, it's central. Seek justice. - Eugene Cho + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is despair, let me sow hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. Amen. A Prayer of St. Francis.

Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times. - Psalm 106:3 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

God, be with the first responders in Oklahoma, and may all in the communities and families be touched by your restorative will and strength.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for [God] gives sleep to [God's] beloved. - Psalm 127:1-2 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

In the unceasing ebb and flow of justice and oppression we must all dig channels as best we may, that at the propitious moment somewhat of the swelling tide may be conducted to the barren places of life. - Jane Addams From Twenty Years at Hull House + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord of peace and reconciliation, we lift up those who are hurting in our cities. Comfort those who mourn from experiencing too much violence and sin. May we, as your church have the wisdom and discernment to reach out to areas of need, to be in relationship with our neighbors, and to love the cities around us and the people who fill them. Amen.  

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, [with] God giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. - Hebrews 11:4 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work — hard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss — loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us. - Jean Vanier From Finding Peace + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

This is the day that you have made, O Lord. May we rejoice and show others the joy of our salvation! Let them know that we are your followers by the way we love them, especially the lowly, the poor and the marginalized. Amen.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. - Philippians 3:8-9 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know. God may call any one of us to respond to some far away problem or support those who have been so called. But we are finite and he will not call us everywhere or to support every worthy cause. And real needs are not far from us. - C.S Lewis + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, we thank you for changing seasons, and for being part of your creation that is full of rhythm and cycles. We pray for eyes to see and ears to hear the lessons you give to us through these periods of transition.

But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. - Micah 7:7 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Praying scripture is not judged by how much you read but by the way in which you read. If you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you must become as the bee that penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar. - Madame Guyon + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Good Shepherd, You have a wild and crazy sheep in love with thorns and brambles. But please don't get tired of looking for me! I know You won't. For You have found me. All I have to do is stay found. -A prayer by Thomas Merton from A Book of Hours

Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. - Psalm 82:3 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

One thing, however, is sure: unless Christians fulfill their prophetic role, unless they become the advocates and defenders of the truly poor, witness to their misery, then, infallibly, violence will suddenly break out. In one way or other 'their blood cries to heaven,' and violence will seem the only way out. It will be too late to try to calm them and create harmony. - Jacques Ellul + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

God, we pray today for unity of the church, that we may be of one mind. Help us to overcome our differences while celebrating the unique gifts and insights of each person, denomination and community. Amen.

We have real difficulty here because everyone thinks of changing the world, but where, oh where, are those who think of changing themselves? People may genuinely want to be good, but seldom are they prepared to do what it takes to produce the inward life of goodness that can form the soul. Personal formation into the likeness of Christ is arduous and lifelong. - Richard Foster + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

 Like a tree planted by living water is the person who commits to your ways, O Lord. Nourish us with your disciplining love; prune our branches for growth. Teach us also to recognize good fruit and to recoil from the bitterness of the bad. Amen. - Common Prayer

Editor's Note: Below is the text of President Barack Obama's Proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. Americans have long turned to prayer both in times of joy and times of sorrow. On their voyage to the New World, the earliest settlers prayed that they would "rejoice together, mourn together, labor, and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work." From that day forward, Americans have prayed as a means of uniting, guiding, and healing. In times of hardship and tragedy, and in periods of peace and prosperity, prayer has provided reassurance, sustenance, and affirmation of common purpose.Prayer brings communities together and can be a wellspring of strength and support. In the aftermath of senseless acts of violence, the prayers of countless Americans signal to grieving families and a suffering community that they are not alone. Their pain is a shared pain, and their hope a shared hope. Regardless of religion or creed, Americans reflect on the sacredness of life and express their sympathy for the wounded, offering comfort and holding up a light in an hour of darkness.