CPTnet
December 9, 2004

IRAQ INVITATION TO PRAYER AND FASTING: December 14, 2004, "This is your
hour, and the power of darkness"

An Invitation to Prayer and Fasting:
 CPT in Iraq invites you to join with us every Tuesday for a day of prayer
and fasting that will continue until Easter week. At 9am Eastern Standard
Time (1400GMT) on Tuesdays the team will gather for an hour of focused
prayer. You are invited to participate as you are led either by joining us
in fasting (the team will do a bread and water fast) and/or participating
with us a time of joint prayer -- Additionally we will provide an action
step(s) connected with the sacred passage that will be the focus for our
time of prayer together. If you are so led, the CPT Iraq team asks that you
participate in the suggested action between Tuesday and Thursday so we can
be working together. We created a web page where people can post
reflections that occur during their time of prayer. You will find a link to
the website at the end of the release.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004
"This is your hour, and the power of darkness"

Luke 22 is a chapter about love--Love confronted with betrayal, denial, and
arrest. The authorities are seeking a way to put Jesus to death. They rely
on the cover of darkness to arrest him. The disciples are terrorized. The
threat of arrest or death tests their commitment to Jesus.

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you [disciples], that he might
sift you [disciples] like wheat." Luke 22:31

"When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on
me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness." Luke 22: 53

How do you respond to terror or attack? Might you, in fear, compromise
principles of love by fleeing, or turning on a friend? Would you do
whatever it takes to avoid the assault? How does the unknown affect your
reaction?

Here in Iraq, house raids by U.S. troops happen in the middle of the night.
Emotions short-circuit morality as prisoners are tortured or killed. Even
nonviolent peace and development organizations rely on
armed guards or flee the terror. Those who want to think the best of
occupation troops attack reporters who tell events as they happen. Most
journalists hole up in barricaded enclaves or only
report from "embedded" positions.

At home, how do you respond to terror and attack? Do you pay for bigger
weapons systems? Do you avoid those who are different? Do you escape to
television and work? Do you justify the violent
response to terror with religious pablum? Remember Jesus in these times of
testing. Jesus modeled service, prayed for God's will, healed the injured
slave, and spoke straightforwardly to his interrogators. Jesus crossed
lines of enmity, purity, and religiosity.

Suggested Actions:

Break the barriers of the unknown. Get to know another human being on the
other side of an artificial barrier.

1) If you are Christian, go visit a mosque or Islamic Center in your
area. If you are Muslim, visit a church or synagogue in your area.

2) If you are not a soldier, go visit a nearby military base. If you are a
soldier, go visit a peace center in your area. Go with a friend.

Website for posting now available: Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq has
begun a webpage http://prayerandactionforiraq.blogspot.com We encourage you
to post any insights that may have come to you during our mutual time of
prayer.

We also encourage you to post any heartening or disheartening aspects ofyour
prayers and actions so that we may encourage each other's spiritual growth.