Day #2 – In Conversation? In Retrospect—In Prayer

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Thursday, February 19, 2015

Day #2 – In Conversation? In Retrospect—In Prayer

The second day of doing Lent generously! Today, the generous suggestion was to get involved in conversation with someone. A neighbor, or even a stranger.

I know I am often preoccupied, so much so that I keep my head down and just plow through life, unseeing and uncaring. At least, it must seem that way to others. So many people are almost wearing blinders! It seems that way, anyhow. Actually, I am interested in other people! Really and truly.

I decided to take my recently-bought used car in to the repair shop today. I felt my steering pulling, so I thought the car needed a wheel alignment. It was a frigid day, with the temperature hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit. (Wind chill fifteen to twenty-five below zero . . . )

After dropping my car off, I went down the block to the Asian restaurant next to the post office. Excellent food, and not expensive, either! So, I had a delicious lunch. The server in the restaurant was a pleasant young Asian woman. As I finished my lunch—after the lunch rush had cleared out—she and I exchanged a few words.

I am a friendly person. I’ve talked here before about my propensity to engage in conversation with most anyone. At the drop of a hat. My family rolls their eyes about it. Well, it happened again, today. Naturally, almost like we were friends already, the conversation blossomed. She seemed to really enjoy it.

After we had talked for some five minutes, she finally asked me what I did for a living. “I’m a pastor.” Because she seemed to have difficulty processing that word, I helpfully supplied another. “A minister, at a church.” Her face brightened with recognition. She nodded. “Ah, yes. My husband and I, we go to a church near our home sometimes.” I told her that was wonderful! I tried to encourage her in attending church on a regular basis. She nodded again and was going to respond—when the telephone rang. Alas, she needed to take care of business, a take-out order.

I left the restaurant not long after that. (Oh, my car? Sadly, it needed tires. Plus the alignment. But I digress from the topic of this post.)

As I look over the generosity assignment for today, it says to engage in conversation, and to try to remember details about the other person. I had the bonus of the person actually asking me about my work. So, I told her! I hope and pray that this lovely young lady has the opportunity to attend that church with her husband, soon. God, grant that they may be welcomed and made to feel the friendly attitude of the people who attend there.

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blog, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.

How to Heal. In Prayer.

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – January 29, 2015

How to Heal. In Prayer.

More about healing? God wants to heal broken relationships, bruised feelings, imperfect people. And, God can heal actual, physical illness and disease, too.

Sometimes, as C.S. Lewis notes in his book A Grief Observed, a person deals with much more than physical illness. It is somehow magnified by feelings of desperate loneliness, or quiet despair, or sharp pangs of regret. And what about resentment, screwed up so tight, or anger, simmering like a kettle over a high flame on the stovetop.

Yes, God is intimately familiar with all of these afflictions, too.

I was especially intrigued by something Cardinal Joseph Bernardin wrote, shortly before he died. Cardinal Bernardin was the head of all Catholics in the Chicago area for some years. He said, especially in respect to his ministry to cancer sufferers, “the worst suffering is isolation, feeling cut off.” [1] The most profound thing we can do, oftentimes, is just show up.

Rev. Howell gives another example, too. He states, “a friend of mine spent a week in Lourdes, the shrine in France where the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. . . . When my friend returned, I asked her, ‘Did you see any miracles?’ She said, ‘Oh yes, every day.’ … ‘Every day at Lourdes, no matter who you are, or where you are from, or what’s wrong with you, you are welcomed, and loved.’” [2]

Yes, God can be seen, healing from something physical. True. And yes, it can be in some quiet way where the chaplain comes alongside without words—with the ministry of presence, or sitting beside a family in fresh grief and anguish and praying. Or, speaking softly with a senior, encouraging their heart at the sad prospect of a life with limited mobility. I repeat what Rev. Howell said through his friend, “No matter who you are, or where you are from, or what’s wrong with you, you are welcomed, and loved.”

Isn’t that what all this is about? Yes, it would be so nice if the crowds were suddenly healed from all physical infirmity, or healings continued in some stadium-sized venue. But that must not be what God wants. God’s priorities are not the same as our priorities. Not always, anyway.

Yes, Jesus healed, physically. Sometimes in a big way, usually in a public way, occasionally in a quiet way. Not only physical healing, but emotional, spiritual, and psychological healing. Jesus cured relationships, and restored individuals to fellowship with God and with each other. Do you want that for yourself today? Jesus will heal you in the most intimate way possible, so you can enjoy being forever-friends with Him.

And, how awesome is that?

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blog, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.

[1] James C. Howell, The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray, (Nashville, TN, Abingdon Press: 2003), 89.

[2] Ibid, 90.