A few days ago I wrote about a seven year old girl who was hospitalized after choking on a cough drop. She is still in a coma and her brain is not responding at all. So what do I pray for? Certainly peace for the family and wisdom and understanding to continue throughout their lives that are forever changed. No easy task for them.
The on-line care pages for this little girl offer some different perspectives on the God that we are all searching for. One category of messages suggests that this was God’s plan, that God needs/wants more angels in heaven; the implication being that the parents should rejoice that they have been “asked” to sacrifice their daughter.
This is not the loving God that I pray to—a God who can accompany me in my sorrow and in the ways that I cope with this or any tragedy. I just have to keep bringing God’s presences into my life.
I might begin by asking what Jesus would want to me to do. Maybe I should start by weeping, just as Jesus did for his friend Lazarus. But unlike Jesus, who brought life back to his friend, I cannot do the same for this girl. I can, however, surround myself with the life energy of a loving God.
The on-line care pages for this little girl offer some different perspectives on the God that we are all searching for. One category of messages suggests that this was God’s plan, that God needs/wants more angels in heaven; the implication being that the parents should rejoice that they have been “asked” to sacrifice their daughter.
This is not the loving God that I pray to—a God who can accompany me in my sorrow and in the ways that I cope with this or any tragedy. I just have to keep bringing God’s presences into my life.
I might begin by asking what Jesus would want to me to do. Maybe I should start by weeping, just as Jesus did for his friend Lazarus. But unlike Jesus, who brought life back to his friend, I cannot do the same for this girl. I can, however, surround myself with the life energy of a loving God.
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