FRIDAY, August 14 (Jonathan Myrick Daniels)

The voice of faith in our nation has become a terribly conflicted thing. There are cries from many camps. Faith is proclaimed on the airwaves and the Internet and has become a requisite component of all political dialogue. Faith leads some to cry out for one thing while it leads others to call for the opposite. Passion for one's faith has led to division within families and communities, even to the point of violence. Xenophobia (fear of foreigners) has joined hands with pistiphobia (fear of faith) to cause suspicion among differing ethnic and faith traditions. Conflicting understandings of the mandates of faith threaten to undermine congregations, denominations, and global communions. There are times when I, and I suspect many others, would like the more strident voices of faith to take a break, to be silent for awhile.

The crowds rebuked Bartimaeus for crying out in faith for healing, "but he cried out all the more." Perhaps if the contemporary voices of faith cried more for God's mercy and less for their own way we might all find some healing.

PRAY for the Diocese of Sambalpur (North India)

Ps 102 * 107:1-32; 2 Samuel 15:19-37; Acts 21:37-22:16

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