A few years ago I was leading a retreat and my eye caught the cover of the bible of a woman sitting next to me. It was a soft covered Good News Bible. A black smudge was ground into the cover. At a quiet time I asked her about it. She looked at It almost like she hadn’t noticed it before.
She laughed and said that she heard a sermon about praying with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Since that time it was her practice every morning to read the newspaper along with her morning devotions. The black ink of the newspaper left its mark on her bible.
I wonder what mark she made on the world?
That’s one of the images that compels a new small group study, called PRAYING THE NEWS.
We are engaged in “news” now, even as it is happening. Often it feels overwhelming; numbing, even.
And yet there is a longing in me — to hear the news from a heart centred place; to pray the news as everyday spirituality.
The author and teacher, Richard Rohr, writes in many of his books, that everything that happens in the world is an opportunity to move us in love towards God and others.
Can listening to the news evoke such a movement in our heart?
That is a core question at the heart of this series. Is prayer (understood in its largest dimension) one of the tools of outreach? Can listening to the news call us to live and act in faithful ways?
If you have questions about how Prayer Bench Small Group Studies work, learn more here: Frequently Asked Questions.
If you want to read more about PRAYING THE NEWS or order it, please visit the Prayer Bench Shop. Praying the News .
Yes, good idea. Once long ago, in the schools, I taught Gr.6 at the time, had the newspaper delieved to the class where together we learned of the “news” , not just the sports page!
It was short lived but one of the best learning tools I ever used. So praying the news is a great tool to Bible Study too?