My usual radio station wouldn’t come in on my alarm clock last night. That happens every now and then. I can’t offer any reasonable explanation but I can offer my feelings on the subject and, frankly, I don’t care for it. What’s a girl to do? I chose the next closest one on the dial and, even though they were just playing commercials at the time, I figured it didn’t matter what kind of music it ended up being in the morning so long as it was loud when 6:15 rolled around.
AUGGHHHH! CAN’T… FIND… SNOOZE BUTTON! 6:15 had rolled around.
There wasn’t any music. Instead, BJ the DJ on some rock station was yelling his contributions to an apparently already heated discussion. “Why aren’t Christians banging on the doors of their clergy and demanding answers?! I mean, if prayer works and God is really there, how come God isn’t doing anything? Why don’t people in religions ever think to ask these obvious questions?!”
I rolled over on my stomach and put my pillow over my head. I vaguely heard some poor guy who had called in trying to say he’s a Christian and prayer doesn’t work like that… sometimes God doesn’t answer you… uh… you know… I grew up in church and… sometimes you have to wait… and… you can’t always expect God to answer because… “Look, I’m sorry if you’re offended by that,” the DJ interjected, “but I’m just telling it like it is!”
Click. Next caller.
Time for me to get up. I said a prayer for the poor guy that just got spanked on public radio trying to defend God and felt my way downstairs to the coffee maker. Maybe God just wasn’t up yet.
Reggie McNeal shares a story about how he offered one day to pray for a waitress at a restaurant he frequents. She told him she had a fight with her boyfriend the night before and would appreciate prayer for that. She walked away from the table and Reggie said a quick prayer. Not thirty minutes later, the waitress came back to the table and demanded to know what Reggie had prayed! “Well, I prayed for you and your boyfriend and that God would bless you,” he said. She could hardly contain her excitement. Her boyfriend had just shown up at the restaurant with roses and an apology. She exclaimed that he never did things like that. She was convinced God had answered Reggie’s prayer.
Reggie explained it this way, “See, this girl wasn’t a Christian. She hadn’t grown up in church. Nobody had told her that you’re not really supposed to expect God to act when you pray.”
Hm.
2 Comments
February 19, 2007 at 9:27 am
We appreciate you fine insights–and your humorous, yet on-the-mark observations.
February 19, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Chuck, Arlie,
Glad you logged in! Thanks for reading — I love you both.
D.