In the Theta Alpha Journal I read about praying for the Ukrainians. In our local church we pray for good outcomes from surgery. Frequently I hear comments like, “I’ll be praying for you today; hope it goes well!”

I am not criticizing this. I think wishing well of people, and thinking of them empathetically, is a good thing. But I think that prayer can be much more.

What God wants is our eternal happiness. Shouldn’t that be what we pray for as well? Nadine Rogers, in the Theta Alpha Journal, reminds us that those who lived in Jesus’ time were the first to expect Jesus to solve their earthly problem. It happened to be Roman oppression. We find this so obvious–those simple Jews, expecting God to solve their worldly problems!–then we pray for earthly things ourselves.

My friend Susie’s ex-husband had an affair, lied about it, initiated a divorce, and never expressed remorse. Susie once told me that in the depths of her shock, she still had a tiny inkling of clarity about the situation. “I knew I was actually okay,” she said, “but that he was in deep trouble.” He was the one to pray for, she said, not herself. She knew she was going to be okay. But him? She wasn’t sure at all.

Sometimes it amazes me how unceasingly the Lord’s truths filter down into our world.  For me, the natural sun helps me to understand it better than anything else I know.  The  sun reaches everywhere in a universal way–with light rays–but depending on the receptacle, it appears to have almost infinite variety.  Light on a table at dusk in the tropics vs. light dancing in the trees in a northern winter–same light, but such a different picture!  And of course, without it we would die instantly.

It is comforting for me to observe that one can avoid light completely–by never going outside during the day, or by going into a cave or a basement, for instance–but it’s pretty hard to do consistently.  Virtually everyone is exposed to light, regularly.  

Which is why I’m always thrilled when I hear a shaft of light–a thought, a line from a song, a comment–that seems (to me) to express a pure truth.  It reminds me how infinite are the Lord’s ways–and I admire the person for figuring it out, probably without the Writings like I have. 

Recently our (Methodist) pastor said, in the pulpit, “I don’t know about you, but I think heaven is a pretty busy place.”  I was awash with admiration.  How did she figure that out?