It seems that everyone I know needs prayers for an aging parent or friend. People are living longer, baby boomers are well into their sixties; almost daily a flyer about a “retirement’ facility makes it’s way to our mailbox. If old means over 65, then we have a lot of old people in this country. But it is the old-old, those who are frail, ill, and diseased, that I am asked to pray for.
My list may be long, but I must never forget that each one on the list is an individual, being care for by another individual. This is where prayer helps. Sure, I can pray for them as a group (Dear God, please look after the old-old), and yes, God knows each individual (You know who they are, God, so I don’t have to say their names), but that’s not the way that prayer works for me. I am reminded of the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial; there is a reason that name after name after name is incised on the wall, and that individually and collectively people search for and touch and caresses each name.
On my daily list and in my prayer book, I write names and then ask that my heart will be open as I pray for each.
My list may be long, but I must never forget that each one on the list is an individual, being care for by another individual. This is where prayer helps. Sure, I can pray for them as a group (Dear God, please look after the old-old), and yes, God knows each individual (You know who they are, God, so I don’t have to say their names), but that’s not the way that prayer works for me. I am reminded of the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial; there is a reason that name after name after name is incised on the wall, and that individually and collectively people search for and touch and caresses each name.
On my daily list and in my prayer book, I write names and then ask that my heart will be open as I pray for each.
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