If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1: 26 - 27)

At the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom we pray in the Anaphora: Again we offer unto Thee this reasonable worship for the whole world: for the Holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church; for those who live in chastity and holiness of life; for all civil authorities - grant them, O Lord, peaceful times, that we in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.

On those days when we celebrate the Liturgy of Basil the Great, the parallel text reads: Remember, O Lord, this country and all civil authorities; grant them a secure and lasting peace; speak good things into their hearts concerning Thy Church and all Thy people, that we in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.

A more recent translation of the Liturgies published by St. Tikhon's replaces 'peaceful times' with 'good governance'. For Orthodox Christians good governance has usually meant a governance that maintains public peace and the good order or social stability allowing for Christians to live out their lives as Christians. Believers have wanted above all to be left alone, without interference to do what believers must do: worship God according to our understanding, minister to one another within the Body of Christ, act with compassion and kindness to those in need. Rulers and regimes come and go, We'd just like them to allow us to live according to our faith. We know that even for all the attempts over the centuries to create a Christian society, our fallen human nature - selfishness, pride, injustice - always manifests and asserts itself in the form of power struggles, corruption, skullduggery, conflicting claims and violence that so often play out to the detriment of ordinary people, let alone believing subjects or citizens.

Our response, tempered by our collective experience since Apostolic times, has been to pray for peace and stability. We are mindful that the Church has a prophetic dimension that seeks to speak truth to the powers and elites of this world. There are many moving and inspiring examples of such prophetic words. Think of St. John Chrysostom's sharp words to the Empress Eudoxia, or St. Metropolitan Philip of Moscow rebuking Ivan the Terrible. But the prophetic is also problematic. It is very easy to mistake one's own words for truth-speaking, and one's own enthusiasm, the enthusiasm of a group of like-minded people, a sense of righteousness, the ecstasy of indignation, for prophecy. It is a sad fact that delusion is rampant in the arena of grievance where, above all, discernment and humility are needed.  

What we need above all, then, is to prayerfully stir up our love for God, for our neighbor, for those who do not wish us well, and to be intentional in our fasting and good works, works of mercy and of good-will. We need to step away from the many distractions, from talking heads and social media, from all the rhetoric that by definition attempts to manipulate our feelings. Instead: we should cultivate and nurture the quality of our family life and Christian fellowship; to drink more deeply on a personal level from scripture and spiritual writing and being attentive in prayer and worship; to be kind and do good within our reach.