National Day of Prayer

Thursday evening at 7:00 at the downtown commons, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, conservatives and liberals, will gather together despite our differences to pray for our community, our state, and our nation and those who serve us.  It’s an American tradition. 

            In the dark days of 1775 when the existence of the nation hung in the balance, the Continental Congress called for prayer.  Since that time, calls for prayer frequently rang out when prayer was our only hope and finally in 1952 President Truman signed a bill proclaiming an annual national day of prayer into law. 

            But we do not need to wait for one day in May.  As we drive through Buchanan whether we want the stop light to flash or turn red and green, we can pray for the city commissioners who listen to arguments pro and con and then make the best decision they can (which at least half of us won’t like!) 

            As volunteer firemen rush to the scene, we can pray for their safety and give thanks for their bravery and pray we will never lose them to tragedy.

 We can pray policemen will end their shift whole and well, for they never know if they will be involved in settling a domestic violence dispute or helping to unlock a pastor’s car.  All they know is they have been called to serve.

And let us not forget small business leaders who not only struggle to make a profit but donate hours after hours to building our community and making our downtown vibrant in creative and artistic ways, building a future on the bones of the past. 

The list goes on --- and I haven’t even finished with prayers for our community.  I haven’t mentioned the school system or RAM or volunteers for the Trail. 

This Thursday we have much to pray for, much to give thanks for.  Let us lift our voices together. 

            

Forgiveness is a choice

I have a friend, Jan, whose parents beat her for even the mildest offense, leaving scars upon her heart as well as her back.  Her mother would call her stupid even though Jan made the school honor roll without fail and her father consistently told her that no one could ever love her.   

For years Jan’s life was controlled by the rage she felt toward her parents and the world – her rage against God.  She wore anger as a badge on her heart.  You never knew when she would erupt into a rage, and worse, you never know if you were going to be the target. 

Jan lost friend after friend until one day I asked her “How’s this working for you?’  She stopped and thought about that for weeks on end until she finally concluded that it wasn’t working at all.

 In the end she was punishing herself as effectively as her parents had abused her in the past.  Her life was not what she wanted it to be.  Instead it was controlled by the past..

So she set about the difficult task of leaving the pain behind by forgiving her parents as people who were living out of their own pain and self-loathing.  It was not until she found the ability to work through her bitterness and anger that she was freed to live her life.  Jan eventually became one of the most compassionate people I have ever known, becoming a therapist to help others with a similar background of abuse. 

She discovered what forgiveness is all about.  In the Bible in Greek,  forgiveness literally means to release, to hurl away, to free yourself.  That’s what Jan did. She hurled the pain and bitterness away from her.

What forgiveness does not mean is putting yourself back in harm’s way if the other person has not been changed by their own repentance or your act of forgiveness.  A battered wife can forgive her husband for the pain he caused both physically and emotionally but she should not go back to him to receive the same treatment time and time again. 

But how do we find our way to this new way of being?  How do we forgive?  What does forgiveness look like?

 First of all, forgiveness is more a conscious decision than an emotion. You can consciously decide to not let the past rule over you.  You can decide to reclaim your power, your self with God’s help.

 Doing this takes time, commitment, courage, and energy.  It is an unnatural act that you must work at to achieve.  But you do not need to work at it alone.  God will be there walking with you, strengthening you, enfolding you with the love you will need --- including love for yourself.

Sunshine

            I woke up to sunshine this morning.  Oh, the sky was grey but there, outside my window, were the bright yellow daffodils I had planted in the fall for just such a day as this.  

            Daffodils require faith.  Unlike the annuals I’ll plant in a few weeks that already come full of blooms, color, and fragrance – no waiting or patience required --- daffodils go into the ground as bare bulbs showing no promise of life or the glory to come.  Yet every fall I plant some more, believing in the spring to come.

            I balance on my hands and knees, digging down just far enough but not too far, place the bulb into its especially prepared spot and cover it carefully with sweet smelling earth and adding a layer of mulch.  And for months all I see is that mound of dirt and I wonder what will happen in the spring --- and if anything at all will happen. 

            Now, after months of waiting, green shoots stand tall and on gloomy mornings like this one, I have the wondrous gift of bright yellow blooms proclaiming the certainty of the miracle of life. 

            In the seasons of our lives’ falls and winters we need to remember that life does not always come with the full blooms and glory of annuals that last only for a season, but that most of life grows like daffodils: bare bulbs of hope and promise that take a season to grow hidden underground only to burst like bright sunshine when the time is right. 

Oh, one other thing you need to know about daffodils --- and the unexpected blooms of life --- they are not just for one season.   The miracle happens again and again and again.