CHRISTIAN COMMENT

THE prophet Daniel is best known for being thrown into a lion’s den. Somewhere around 200 years before Christ, he was trapped by jealous political enemies.

He kept to his Jewish traditions even though it was demanded that only the king of Babylon be worshiped. It resulted in the famous brutal punishment. His friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (what great names!) had survived being thrown into a fiery furnace for similar reasons.

God intervened in both situations and miraculously saved them. It is the stuff of great Sunday School stories.

Daniel is less well known for interpreting dreams. We might recall the phrase “the writing is on the wall.” He gave the translation that the king was being judged “have been weighed” by God.

He also received visions and dreams of the future, including the statue with feet of clay. This represented a later ruler who would be weaker than the others.

Strange visions of the future were given to him by God and known as apocalyptic visions. They have a similar tone to the Book of Revelation and were treasured and reproduced in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

As well as these famous parts of his book, Daniel also is a pray-er, one who prays. In chapter 9 his prayer is recorded. He comes to God celebrating the Divine mercy and laws but confessing the wrongs of his people, and being ashamed of the kings and princes.

If we were praying for the world and its leaders, would we be able to ask for forgiveness not just for ourselves, knowing that there are people in need but not doing enough to help them; for our communities constantly striving for success and efficiency while forgetting those who are used up or disadvantaged; but also praying for our leaders who seem to forget that we are a family across nations, that we have a history of exploitation and that our children will inherit challenges that have not been acted upon?

In this likely election year, let us pray for our leaders, those in public and those hidden and ask for God’s mercy. Let us also be agents of change sticking to our faith and principles.