PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF BAGHDAD

A video and a message from Canon Andrew White, Vicar of St. George's Anglican Church in Baghdad:

My dear friends,

There are not words to describe the carnage, terrorism and sheer pain of Iraq yesterday. Not for four years have we seen this level of violence in Baghdad. Everybody has been affected. Even people not injured in this tragedy are filled with trauma and pain. So many people have been affected. Baghdad is hurting. People of all faiths and backgrounds are in tears. The bombs did not just affect one area but the whole of Baghdad.

This is clearly a result of political tension and distortion. To have the Prime Minister put out a warrant for the arrest of the Vice President is most serious and looks like a rise of the Shia Sunni divide. A week after the US troops left we are facing huge disaster.

Whilst the world is celebrating Christmas, Baghdad is hurting and burning. In no way were Christians targeted in these attacks. They appear to mainly be targeted at the Shia, but Sunnis were killed as well and everybody in the church is also hurting.

Once again the call we are called upon to stand with and to help those caught up in this disaster. Thank you for standing with us as we do so.

For me the pain is so difficult. I am torn. I desperately want to be there with the people I love, but at the same time I want to celebrate the joy of Christmas with my family in England.

The news of Christmas is still one of love and joy, because love came down at Christmas. It is only this fact that keeps us going in Baghdad. Despite the tragedy of the moment, our Lord is still here and His Spirit is still with us. Even if we lose everything, we still have our Lord Jesus who came to us at Christmas.

Blessings,

Andrew

PRAYER

O God, you have bound the inhabitants of Iraq together in a common life. Help all your people in Baghdad and throughout the country, in the midst of their struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred, bitterness, or violence and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect to bring peace to the city and to the the country. Amen.

Thanks to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

IT'S BAD

From NOLA.com:

Seven people were shot in New Orleans on Monday, two of them fatally, on the heels of a violent weekend that saw 18 people shot in the New Orleans area, eight in a single high-profile incident on Canal Street as the second night of the French Quarter Festival wrapped up Saturday.

Police responded to a call of shots fired Monday around 1:20 p.m. at Law and Desire streets, where they found Terence Butler, 36, dead. Two other men were taken to the hospital, where one of them, Derrick Jones, 32, died, said John Gagliano, chief investigator for the coroner's office. A third person was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Minutes later, police responded to a separate shooting three blocks away at Clouet Street and Lausat Place and found a man who had been shot several times. He too was transported to a hospital in critical condition, said New Orleans police spokesmen Garry Flot and Jannsen Valencia.

If my count is correct, three people are dead and 15 were wounded, some critically, from gunshots during the weekend and on Monday. What's going on? There's a vacuum at the top. Ray Nagin seems to be MIA. He's pretty much departed from his job as mayor before the next mayor is sworn in, except for his attempts to commit the new mayor to as many contracts as possible before he leaves office. The New Orleans Police Department is demoralized, and Chief Warren Riley seems unable to implement a strategy to stem the violence.

May 3, the date of Mitch Landrieu's swearing into the office of mayor of New Orleans, can't come fast enough for me. I know he's no savior, but he'll be a better mayor than Nagin if he only half tries. He faces the daunting challenge of reducing violence in the city.

Ormonde at Through the Dust keeps count of the murders in New Orleans. He'll have more names to add to the list for his next post in his series, "Murder capital of the US of A".