Author Archives: Patricia Ann

God’s Prayer to Us

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Have you ever thought of a prayer roll reversal? What if God sent a prayer to us? Yesterday, I wondered what God would say to us in a prayer. Here’s what I came up with:

My Earthly People

I have been watching your troubled world for quite some time now and pray that you would take these few suggestions as to how you might turn things around.

Your environment is in big trouble. It is going to take more than demonstrations to set it right. It is going to take all world leaders, not just a few, to acknowledge the problem and make intelligent decisions. It is also going to take the world population as a whole to do their part. I pray that all of you will take the necessary steps to save your planet.

Your love for one another is sadly lacking. This is obvious from the wars, terrorism, senseless killings, starvation and disease that plague your world. People who love each other do not tolerate this behavior, and, once again, would make intelligent decisions to rectify these situations. I pray that you would do all in your power (and mine) to recognize and eradicate such behavior.

Your daily lives are sadly lacking in love and respect, not only for each other, but for yourselves. You have been taught love from the moment of birth and somewhere along life’s path have either abandoned, forgotten, or ignored this love…not in all cases, but in many. Husbands and wives break their vows, parents pit children against one another, children come to believe that life is all about them, governments forget that they are elected for the betterment of the people, not the detriment.

You are my people and I want only the very best for you. I gave you free will, hoping you would use it wisely. Some of you have willingly and lovingly accepted me; others have deliberately denied my very existence.

It is my prayer that you will open your minds and hearts, and use your intelligence as intended.

You are my children and I love you dearly. Please hear my prayer.

Your Heavenly Father.

 

 

 

 

It’s the Little Things

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Sometimes it’s the little things that make our day a little brighter, like today’s photo from Facebook which is accompanied by this quote: “True happiness is found in making others happy!” I can vouch for that because whoever posted this post made me happy.

This is a Hawaiian Cardinal from Wikipedia. I hope it makes you happy, too. Enjoy your day.

 

Stop Pretending

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Here’s a snippet from a book, Passionate Presence, by Catherine Ingram:

Some years ago a young friend of mine, six years old at the time, walked up to me and said the following:”Pretend you are surrounded by a thousand hungry tigers. What would you do?”

I gave it some thought, imagining the scary scenario and feeling more and more tense. Would I pray? Probably not. Would I run? One doesn’t outrun tigers. Anxiety began to take hold as I saw in my mind’s eye the tigers closing in. I said to my young friend, “Wow, I don’t know what I would do. What would you do?”

And he replied, “I’d stop pretending.”

That got me to thinking. Could we stop pretending even if we wanted to? Could we stop pretending that the other person is to blame for a torn relationship; or that we could do a better job of leading the world instead of the people who are actually supposed to be doing that? Could we stop pretending that our life is a bed of roses when in fact it is a bush of thorns?

And what if we stopped pretending that God doesn’t exist; that the world invented itself and everything in it, including us?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be surrounded by those hungry tigers…guilt, jealousy, unbelief, narcissism, egoism, cynicism.

Maybe it’s time to face those hungry tigers and stop pretending.

 

 

 

Exciting Words

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On March 25th I copied these words from a Pinterest poster. They made me feel happy and excited…I still feel that way a month later.

God says, “Prepare yourself, I’m about to take you to a new level in your life.” 

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Happy Sunday to all.

Country Church, Virginia Springtime : Stock Photo

 

 

Condolences to Congratulations

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It was my privilege once again to attend funerals for two members of my church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Scarborough. One took place on Saturday, April 22nd and the other on Monday, April 24th. The only significant difference in the lives of these two people, besides their gender, was their age. Alfred was in his 102nd year and Debra had just turned sixty.

The love, admiration, and accolades directed to these two wonderful people by their friends and families left the rest of us wishing we had known them better while at the same time conveying the feeling that we knew them well.

Debra had been an operating room nurse, well known for her caring ways, sunny smile and warm hugs. She was also known for her tenacity in dealing with health problems, and for continuing to love unconditionally in the face of all adversity.

Alfred, had been active all of his life and even at the age of one-hundred-and-one, was still doing aerobics, walking, and standing tall and straight. Our Pastor remarked that when Alfred walked down the aisle to his familiar pew, everyone else automatically straightened their posture.

As end-of-life celebrations can be, these two were so inspirational that one could not help but offer congratulations along with condolences to the loved ones left behind; congratulations for having shared in the lives of these two remarkable people.

Condolences to congratulations…it was so fitting to offer both.

 

Truth and Beauty in a Song

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Sometimes we have to truly seek out the truth of something in order to learn a lesson of great value. This holds true for the following song. There (in my opinion) is truth in every word and the words and truth paint a beautiful picture of life. This song was posted on Facebook this morning, followed by other fine words found in Ecclesiastes. Enjoy and learn.