It’s a horrible feeling, hopelessness; throughout my teens and early twenties I suppose we were pretty used to it in Northern Ireland as each act of sectarian violence, each reported atrocity began to acquire a dull, repeated, this-will-never-change familiarity.  Then everything did change – more than we ever could have dreamed. Which is why blasts from the past, like the pictures of violence and rioting over the last few days, are so painful; we’ve been here before and we were beginning to dare to hope that we never would be again.

The reality is that there is huge, thrilling, welling hope in Northern Ireland, and that change is happening, and that the pointless violence of a load of hoodies won’t knock the future off course.  But watching the pictures of the riots over the last few nights is a sobering reminder of just how much work, and prayer, and hope, and patience will still be needed.

My initial plan for this blog entry was to create a short video meditation using some of the news footage from the last few nights as a background to some prayers and Bible verses.  But when I went searching for the right footage to use, it was just too raw and sickening and hate-filled to use in any kind of prayerful way; the videos are all there on Youtube if you’re interested – aerial footage, news reports, CCTV pictures – but be warned, it’s unsettling viewing.

So instead I’ve made a video using still images from news reports, and some verses from the Psalms and elsewhere in the Old Testament where God’s people were crying out for peace in times of turmoil.  Please take the time to have a look and use it to pray for Belfast, for our leaders, for safety and calm to be restored, and even to pray if you can for the people perpetrating the violence.

…or in High Def:

Peace prayer from The DOCK Church on Vimeo.