When we stopped to take Claire out of the stroller in order to do some swinging there was no blanket. I left Claire swinging with her dad and rewalked our path in search of the blanket. I believe in a God that is involved in or everyday lives and I believe that prayer is powerful and creates change. I considered saying a prayer for our little lost blanket--that I could find it, that it would still be there or any small thing to be able to find it.
I didn't.
I didn't pray for those things because I thought of genocide. I've often heard people explain terrible events in the world like cancer and genocide by saying that God allows those things because he has an eternal perspective. Someday things will be better, God will make it even etc, etc. I don't think that the terrible things that happen in the world denote that there is no God. Instead, I think that terrible things happen in this world because it's a natural world and God helps us through those things. So it's hard for me to think that God would help me find a blanket when he isn't going to stop racial violence.
The trick is that I still think God is involved in our daily lives. And the blanket was something that I really did want to get back. I wanted Claire to have some thing that someone worked so hard on for her. How do you reconcile a God who is involved in your everyday lives with a God who has an eternal perspective and doesn't stop bad things from happening?
So instead of praying to be able to find the blanket I prayed to have my heart changed. I prayed that if I couldn't find it I wouldn't be mad, that I would look hard and that I would be grateful if I did find it.
And the good news is, I got to be grateful
Sallee! I found your blog! Ours is nathanerincollins.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteMy posts are not nearly as witty and fun as yours! But we should still be blog friends :)
So sweet and thoughtful!
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