Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 15, 2015
Mark 9:14-29 (NRSV)
I believe! Help my unbelief!
This cry of a pleading father of an afflicted son is the cry of the human condition.
Just as Jesus points out that all things can be done for the one who believes, it is not that we don't want to believe, but the realities and sometimes the cruelties of this world seem so tangible.
When we are touched with pain and grief, it is all too real.
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| Service dog for a boy with autism calms him during 24-hour EEG |
It is likely that our prayer lives have a predetermined outcome that sometimes leaves little room for God to do anything but comply. If we receive a different answer, we interpret that God didn't hear us.
How do we open ourselves to God's blessing in our lives even if that blessing comes in unexpected ways?
We may be too like the crowd, quick to declare the object of our prayer to be dead (like the boy after the unclean spirit came out). As Jesus takes him (and us) by the hand, he arises and we see resurrection in this life - not just in the next.
I believe! Help my unbelief!
Prayer from St. Therese of Liseux:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for each and every one of us. Amen.
Prayer by St. Therese of Liseux Prayer from Story of A Soul
Picture by By Zipster969, link to pawsitivityservicedogs.com (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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