By Revd Charity Tozivepi-Nzegwu (From Seeds February – March 2026)
I have learnt that there are moments when the world trembles, not because violence has already erupted, but because the conditions for it are being normalised. When power begins to speak as though borders are optional, consent is irrelevant, and the lives of ordinary people are collateral.
Scripture teaches us to pay attention to such moments.
Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds. When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power.’ (Micah 2:1) This is not merely about politics. It is about moral imagination. About whether the strong believe they are accountable. About whether might is mistaken for right. About whether law exists to restrain power or to be bent by it.
The scriptural wisdom tradition is clear. When authority forgets its limits, chaos follows. When force replaces dialogue, when domination disguises itself as order, when resources are valued more than lives, the earth itself becomes unsafe.
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord … He who sits in the heavens laughs’ (Psalm 2:2–4) Not because suffering is amusing, but because no empire is eternal.
There is a dangerous logic at work in the world, one that suggests that if power can act without consequence, then others will follow. Scripture rejects this utterly. Violence begets violence. Injustice multiplies itself. What is permitted for one soon becomes permission for many.
The prophetic tradition does not call us to cheer, nor to inflame, nor to choose sides hastily. It calls us to discernment. To truth telling. To remembering that law, justice, and restraint are not weaknesses but gifts that protect the vulnerable.
God is never impressed by military strength. God listens for the cries of those who will pay the price long after speeches are finished, families who will grieve, children who will inherit rubble instead of hope.
…Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.’ (Isaiah 1:17)
This is a moment for vigilance, not vengeance.
For wisdom, not bravado.
For courage that refuses the seduction of domination.
And for prayer, not the kind that numbs conscience, but the kind that sharpens it.
May we remain awake.
May we refuse the lie that force is inevitable.
May we remember that peace is not passive, it is disciplined, costly, and holy.
The Revd Charity Tozivepi-Nzegwu is a Methodist minister serving in the Cambridge area. She is Chair of the Methodist Church’s Justice, Dignity and Solidarity Committee. This article is shared in edited form with Charity’s permission.