It is Sunday, again, the blessed day when Christians flock to their churches and to celebrate their god's day of rest, and declare how great they believe that he is.
And, yes, as I tend to do, I did listen to the BBC's Radio 4 Sunday Worship, which, this week, came from a church in Scotland.
From ST Andrew's and ST George's West Church, in the City of Edinburgh.
The service was conducted by the Rev. Ian Gilmour, who, I have to frank, was not able to compete with the inspirational tranquillity which exuded by Father Brian D'Arcy, last week.
Rev. Gilmour, it transpired, was more akin to what might have been expected of a Calvinist preacher, with the service been too steep in formality and lacking in entertaining humility.
But, as all of these services are wont to do, Rev. Gilmour did cite the conflicts and avoidable tragedies which are continuing to beset the world and be sources of distress for humans.
He commented on murderous attacks by terrorists in Spain and in other places in the world, and he cited the tragedy of the water born landslides in Sierra Leone.
Rev. Gilmour would also have had in mind the flooding of vast areas of Bangladesh, and landslides in parts of China. Probably also the increase in border tensions between China and India, and, probably most definitely, the crisis in the Korean Peninsula.
He might also have had in mind the strife in the United States, between the Alt-Right and those Americans who oppose their racist ideology.
And then their is the issue of whether or not the statues and monument of the American Confederacy should or should not be removed from public places and public view.
Monuments, of course, like mausoleums, are man's attempt at immortalising himself.
Probably not as successfully as the early Christians have done, in immortalising their god, Jesus, Mary and the reputed prophets or authors of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. But still an attempt.
Now, the focus of my thought for today, is this:
What if the world were to pray or beseech the powerful leaders and nations of the world.
Asking them refrain from causing the deaths, the injuries, the destruction and the pain which they and their actions are causing.
Is it likely that such a plea would, or could result in more success than continuously pleading and praying to the gods to help us humans?
To be continued.
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