How Sorry Are You Really? And Are You Really Praying For Me?

I watched the caller’s number on my phone as it rang on my desk.  I knew who it was, it was a co-worker.  I wasn’t too busy to take the call but it was someone I just wasn’t in the mood to talk to right then.  The next day, I emailed the caller to let her know I got her message on my answering machine.   I started with, “I am sorry I missed your call…”  Then erased it.  Why?  Because I wasn’t really sorry.  In fact, sorry was the last thing I felt.  So I changed it to, “I missed your call…”  Much better!

Now how many of you can relate to that?  Someone call on you for help and the first words you utter are,  ”I am sorry but I can’t help you.”  Or the classic, “I am sorry but I’ll have to hurt you.”  If you are sorry and you haven’t hurt me yet, then why don’t you just forget about hurting me?  That way, we both win.  I don’t get hurt and you have no reason to feel sorry.   How about the generic auto-reply message on your phone?   “I am sorry but I can’t come to the phone right now.”   If you are too busy to take the call,  you are either ignoring the caller on purpose, in which case you are not sorry, or playing with your kids, still not sorry, or cleaning your house, etc.  Nothing there to be sorry about.  Busted!

“I am praying for you…”  I am guilty of using that cliché myself.  It’s the first thing that comes to mind at the time of a disaster.  Boston Bombing for example.  A lot of my friends’ statuses promised prayers and thoughts.  Mine did too but I am happy to report, I kept my word and did offer up prayers and thoughts.   It’s a bit funny to see some of my friends who are professed atheists saying their prayers are with the victims.  See the confusion a tragedy can cause?  Atheists calling on God and Christians losing their faith…

So how about we bring back the true meaning of ‘sorry’ and try not to say sorry unless we mean it?  Don’t be sorry about the bombing, unless of course you are the bomber.  If you are like some of my friends and offered up thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Boston Bombing but got too busy to follow through, it’s not too late.  Send up some prayers to the Big Guy.  If you are an atheist, then you could…er…hmm… Just think happy thoughts.

Just my take.  I am sorry if you don’t like it.  Praying that one day you will…

 

 

Thursday’s Thoughts: Winnipeg’s Praying Police Chief

A few weeks ago, the City of Winnipeg got its first black police chief when Jamaican born Devon Clunis got the nod for the position.  Devon, who has over 20 years of service, also served as the police chaplain.  Since his selection, his strong Christian faith has been a topic of discussion.

In one of his first meeting with the media,  (A Christian news magazine), Clunis wore his faith on his sleeve and said the following:

EXCERPTS from the ChristianWeek story, New police chief: prayer will play a role in reducing violent crime

– “I’m a little tired of us… being ‘(the) murder capital of Canada,’ ” says Devon Clunis, who was appointed chief of police at the beginning of October. “People consistently say, ‘How are you going to solve that?’ It’s not simply going to be because we’re going to go out there and police it away. I truly believe that prayer will be a significant piece of that.

“What would happen if we all just truly — I’m talking about all religious stripes here — started praying for the peace of this city and then actually started putting some action behind that?” he adds. “I believe something phenomenal is going to happen in our city. I truly believe it’s coming. I don’t think I’ve arrived at this position just by chance.”

– Clunis attributes his success to God. He says he has never asked God to make him a powerful person, but rather he has prayed that God make him a leader who treats people with dignity and respect and who is successful in his endeavours.

– Clunis says at the end of the day, he just wants to give of himself to help the community.

– “God still cares, He’s still involved in our lives,” Clunis says, “and I believe without a shadow of a doubt the only reason that I am in this position is because God is involved in it. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

Yesterday, the media was in a frenzy.  ’Chief urges prayer to fight crime’ was the general headline, his words sadly taken out of context.

Chief Clunis has my support.  I am happy to see a man of strong christian values in his position.  I have seen, read and heard of too many ‘bad cops’ and ‘dirty cops” that I, for the most part, have lost faith in them.   Clunis has given me a reason to have at least a glimmer of hope.

As for using prayer as part of his arsenal, why not?  With Winnipeg the nation’s crime capital, what do we have to lose? And while you kneel in prayer for our city,  don’t forget to say one for Clunis.  He needs our prayers and support and we need him to stay strong in his faith no matter what comes.

Oh, and like him, I also believe that the only reason he’s in this position is ‘because God is involved in it’.

All the best, Chief!  Keep the faith!

Just my take.

 

Related articles

• Winnipeg police chief proposes prayer to help combat crime (cbc.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief says comments on prayer and crime misconstrued (ctvnews.ca)
• Combat crime with prayer urges Winnipeg police chief (metronews.ca)
• Local Hero: Devon Clunis preaches the power of prayer (stjohnscathedral.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief to speak to media (cbc.ca)
• Police chief ‘misconstrued’ on controversial prayer statement (theglobeandmail.com)

The Lord's Prayer with a unique twist

Reblogged from Musings Of A Daddy:

I really love this:

"Our Father Who Art In Heaven.

Yes?

Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.

But -- you called ME!

Called you?
No, I didn't call you..
I'm praying.
Our Father who art in Heaven.

There -- you did it again!

Did what?

Called ME.
You said,
"Our Father who art in Heaven"
Well, here I am..
What's on your mind?

Read more… 891 more words

I just had to reblog, especially since I have been blogging on The Lord's Prayer lately

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Lead us not into temptation…we can get there on our own.

Lord’s Prayer rock, detail (Photo credit: jessamyn)

I recently blogged about the impact of the line from The Lord’s Prayer,  ’Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’   Read here.  I blogged about how we say it loosely and never really think of how it is applied in our lives.   Another such line that I think is bloggable is the line ‘Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil’.

In The Lord’s Prayer, we are asking God not to lead us into temptation but since we go there all on our own,  this makes me wonder if we are actually saying, Lord, you don’t have to come with me as I go down the road of temptation.  You stay back here while I dabble for a bit.  Hey, but be sure to stay in the getaway car so you could deliver me from the evil that I encounter.  

So if we pray to God not to lead us into temptation, who is responsible for leading us into the daily temptations we allow ourselves to succumb to?  Not HIM because I doubt he finds any delight in taking his children by the hands and leading them into any form of temptation.  He was mad when Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be tempted in the garden so that would confirm this.   Hmm….so maybe we are the culprit.  We wade into temptation all on our own, sometimes a bit too happily.    Maybe we just don’t want him around to see us enjoying the evil fruit but we sure want him around to forgive us after, right?

Lord, deliver us from the evils that tempt us.

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And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…

The Lord’s Prayer in a Cemetery in Henderson, Kentucky (Photo credit: Lori SR)

How deep is that line taken from The Lord’s Prayer?  Until a while ago, I never paid any mind to the words of that prayer.  Ever since I started uttering words, I was taught it but it had become more of an automatic recital.  It was ‘the automatic pray’.

As my faith matured, I started to seek deeper prayer sessions with my prayers focusing more on depth and meaning.  I also started to meditate, if you can call it that, on the words of The Lord’s Prayer.  I realized then that instead of being ‘The automatic pray’ it was instead ‘The ultimate prayer’.

‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’ was a very poignant line that stood out in the prayer.  I often ponder on it and it makes me search myself.  Am I really forgiving others for trespassing against me, thereby warranting God’s forgiveness?  Sadly, often the answer is a resounding no.

So saying that, should I omit that line until I could say it without crossing my fingers?  How could I in all honesty, ask God’s forgiveness while I carry around a suitcase of memories?  Memories of the trespasses against me and those who perpetrated them?  I can’t.  We can’t.

Even if you are a non-christian, this can also apply to you.  Forgiving is not based on a belief.  Forgiving relieves us of the burden of hate and animosity that we carry around because we have the person in our mind and maybe plotting revenge.  With forgiveness comes great inner peace.  If you are a christian,  forgiving brings forgiveness.  It is wrong to think that one would need to be God fearing to even thing about forgiving.  It’s like saying I can’t be good because I don’t believe in God.

If you haven’t done so yet, next time you say the Lord’s Prayer, meditate on every line and feel it.  You will see why it is the ultimate pray.

Lord teach me how to forgive others so that I in turn could receive your forgiveness.  Amen

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I don’t know how to pray!

When my then wife-to-be said “I don’t know how to pray” in the early stages of our relationship, I was taken aback.  I had asked her to say a pray for a reason I cannot remember and that was her response.  I could not fathom how someone so smart  could not say a simple pray.

I am from a staunch Catholic background so you could say I was born praying.  Everyone of my friends prayed.  Whether they meant it or not was a whole new different thing but they sure knew how to talk to the Big Guy.  This fooled me into thinking that everyone knew how to pray.

If you are one of those unfortunate ones who find it difficult to offer up prayers to GOD, just think of him as one man rolled into three of the most influential people in your life.  Your parent, your teacher and your doctor. (I am not sure how important any of them are to you but we’ll go with them as they are for most people.)

As your parent, tell him how much you love him and how you feel. Be honest, your parents know you and most of the time, know what’s on your mind before you tell them.  They wait for you to come to them.  So open up and feel free to cry on their shoulders. It’s what parents are for.

As your doctor, tell him what symptoms you are experiencing.  How would you like him to address your ailment? Whatever you tell your doctor is confidential so be candid. He can’t help you if you are holding something back. Let him know how you feel, what bothers you.

A teacher is one who guides and shapes our path in life.  As your teacher, study your textbook, (The Bible) and get ready to discuss with him.  Go to him with questions.  You may not understand everything but he does. It is his book so ask him what he meant by this or that.

My wife is now a Christian and prays publicly and often.  And to think, I questioned our relationship when I found out she didn’t know how to pray.

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A Time To Pray

This morning on the drive to work, I was listening to my favorite Christian Radio.  The announcer said, “We have a prayer request for ‘blah blah blah’ so let’s all pray for this person.”  As I am programmed to do, I promptly dropped my head onto my chest in the prayer position.  Don’t worry, I promptly lifted it up again when I realized where I was.

I could see me explaining the accident to the cops. If I could still breathe, that is.  ”Well officer, I was just praying for some poor sap who lost everything and had nothing to live for.  Just an innocent little prayer.”  ”Were your eyes closed, sir?” “Officer, of course my eyes were closed. It’s a prayer and you are supposed to close your eyes to shut out distractions as you pray to God.”  ”Even while driving?” “That was a slip-up officer and would never happen again. I forgot where I was.”  ”Ok sir, go in peace and keep your chin up.”

If only it was that simple but I just wanted to share with you that little incident. I found it funny at the time.

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Unanswered Prayers

Ever wondered why your prayers seem to go unanswered?  I have.  Well until a few years ago when I realized that my prayers were sounding more like a ‘want ads’ than prayer requests.  ‘God please give me this. Let me get that. I want you to do this.’  Do our kids get everything they ask for? Of course not.  So why do we expect our prayers to always get answered the way we want them to and when we want them to?

When a loved one is sick, our prayers are usually for them to be healed. We pray for the hungry to be fed, the dying to get life, and basically for all wrong things to be righted.  If we stop to think, what would the world be like if all these prayer requests were answered?  We often get disillusioned when we practiced our faith, lived by the bible and yet have our prayers go unanswered.  “Why Lord? Why?  Why is Mr. Johnson blessed with all his wealth and seemingly happy family yet he doesn’t even believe in you?  I believe in you.  I do what you want me to do, yet you ignore my prayers. What kind of message are you sending?  How would I look to the unbelievers?”

Reading the Lord’s Prayer, there is a line that says ‘Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven’.  Now what I gather from this is that everything is done according to God’s will. Not yours, not mine. We can pray until we are blue in the face. So a few years ago, I learned this and now my prayers are more like ‘Oh Lord, I want to bring you so-and-so for prayer.  I pray Lord that you will bring her comfort to accept whatever you have in store for him/her.  Lord I pray for the family that they too will be strong and accept that it is your will..“  Whatever the issue, my prayer is always for me or whoever is in my prayer, to understand what they are going through and find comfort and strength to cope with whatever comes. When I do pray for a healing, I pray that God will provide  healing if it be his will.

Two weeks ago, I lost my book of poems in which I had poems I had written since I was 15 years old. I was devastated.  I looked everywhere. Literally EVERYWHERE.  One day I made the decision to stop looking, or at least not look so hard.  I then said a prayer to God. I said ‘Oh God, you know how important this is to me but there are much more important things and dire needs in the world. If it is your will God, please let it turn up sometime. If not, let me be able to let it go’.  Well a few days later, I was preparing to go and sing for some residents at a Nursing home.  For some reason, I kept having this unshakeable feeling that I should take one of my tracks and do a song for them. I tried to explain myself out of doing it as I didn’t want to go down to the basement and look through my music.  Finally, I said ok and went to find an appropriate song.  While walking to the shelf where I had my cds, I happened to look at a box in the corner that I had searched at least 3 times in the last week trying to find my book of poems.  I saw something sticking out at the side and identified it for what it was. MY BOOK OF POEMS!  Thank you God! You came through for me!

This may seem as a very trivial matter to go to HIM for.  Don’t forget all I did was pray for an intervention because I didn’t want to waste my time looking for my book as I was very consumed with finding it.  HE found in him to grant me that request even though I would have been satisfied with whatever the outcome.  The thing is, once is left in his feet or in his hands, I try to let it go and go on with life.

Here’s one of my favorite prayers.  The serenity prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.

Bear in mind that I am not a qualified bible scholar.  This is just my take on praying.

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