CHRIST IN WINTER:
Reflections on Life and Faith for the Years of Winter
I recently picked up a new
child for my prayer list. That’s a fairly common occurrence. I have a long list
of children I pray for, from babies to kids in their fifties. I pray for a lot
of people, including children, just in general, but this particular group is
for kids with specific problems, from cancer to adolescent angst to addictions
to lost mates and lost jobs to joint replacements.
Yes, joint replacements. Those
kids in their fifties are still children. We knew their parents before they
were born. They are mature, competent adults now, but they are still children
to us, and so when they are hurting, even as parents or grandparents
themselves, I feel that it is a responsibility and a privilege to pray for them
as children.
I have no idea how
intercessory prayer works. I’m very sure that neither I nor others, probably not
even all of us together, change God’s mind to do something merciful that God would
not otherwise will. But there is more going on in the spiritual world than any
of us understands. Sometimes we encounter “thin” places [1] where presences and
powers get through. I think praying for others helps to create and use those
thin places.
And as the wonderful
Rachel Naomi Remen says, “Kissing the booboo isn’t intended to take away the
pain. It takes away the loneliness.” I want any child, regardless of age, to
know that at least one person is with them in their pains, through prayer.
JRMcF
I tweet as yooper1721.
1] “Thin places” is not
original with me. I have read CS Lewis and heard Madeline L’Engle speak of thin
places.
No comments:
Post a Comment