Who prays for Europe? Europe has it all, right? Europe is the motherland of Western Culture, and, in many ways, of the Church. Europe is First World, wealthy, mostly democratic. We once belonged to a church that sponsored a missionary family in France, but as valuable as was the work they were doing, they still had to endure from others not only jokes but also serious questions about why they were wasting time and money in Western Europe instead of some place more needy. Missionaries, humanitarian aid, and prayers should be focussed on Darkest Africa and Remotest Asia, right?
Wrong.
No place, era, or person is beyond the need of fervent, effectual prayer. Hubris thinks that which stands tall cannot be toppled; complacence is blind to enemies without and decay within; envy forgets the lesson of Richard Cory.
Europe is facing a grave economic crisis in the financial insolvency and insupportable policies of Greece (with other countries not far behind). This is no less of a potential catastrophe than it was before it was swept from the headlines by the waves of desperate refugees flooding Europe from their terrorist-ravaged homes-that-are-no-longer-home in the Middle East.
European leaders, the Church in Europe, and all European citizens need the the wisdom of the serpent as well as the harmlessness of the dove. They need open hearts to welcome, comfort, and support those who have lost so much. They need open eyes to discern those who would use the humanitarian crisis as an opportunity to infect European countries with the ideals and weapons of terrorism. They need wisdom to receive a foreign culture without losing their own unique identities.
In short, they need our prayers.
Tonight would be a good time to pray for France.
For the record, I wrote this post some time ago, and posted it on the morning of November 13th, little knowing what would happen in Paris just a few hours later.
I can discern potential problems, but I cannot foretell the future. Just in case you were wondering.
