Peace is an easy word to say from a quiet room. We include it in our prayers, mean it sincerely, and sometimes leave it almost entirely undefined. Far away, somebody else has to imagine what that word could mean for the street where their children sleep.
On 20 October, the Associated Press reported that Russian missile and drone attacks had killed at least nine people in Ukraine, according to officials. The report also described President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Norway for discussions about international support and efforts towards a settlement.
A death toll and a diplomatic meeting can appear beside each other as separate kinds of news. For civilians, they belong to the same urgent question: will the decisions of powerful people make it possible to live safely?
ScriptureThe psalm joins the king’s righteousness to the defence of the afflicted and the rescue of those who have no helper. Peace flourishes alongside justice. The lives of vulnerable people are precious in the king’s sight.
Psalm 72:1–4, 12–14
Psalm 72 is a prayer for righteous kingship. It teaches us what to desire from power: protection for those who cannot secure it for themselves. It also makes our language about peace more demanding. We must ask what happens to the exposed person after an agreement has been announced.
A prayer for peace should be able to name the people who need to live inside it.
Christians will disagree about diplomacy, defence and the choices available to governments. Those disagreements require patient attention to evidence. Humility about our expertise can coexist with a clear concern for civilian life and a refusal to celebrate suffering because the victims belong to the wrong nation.
Pray particularly. Pray for children trying to sleep, hospital staff trying to work and households facing another interruption of ordinary life. Pray for negotiators to tell the truth, for leaders to restrain violence and for agreements that protect people who have little voice at the table.
Then let prayer discipline the conversation afterwards. Check an allegation before repeating it. Resist treating a distant conflict as entertainment or as a contest in which every development must vindicate our preferred commentator. The people living through it deserve better than becoming material for our arguments.
Christ’s peacemaking reaches its depth at the cross, where reconciliation costs him his life. His people can therefore seek peace with patience and moral seriousness. We keep praying for the day when a family’s quiet room will be ordinary again, and for the decisions that might help them reach it.
