is prayer too late?

As the events that took place yesterday morning in Newtown, CT begin to unfold and a timeline is created, many ask why pray now - for God didn't save those children.

No, God didn't save those children.  God didn't stop the events that lead up to this horrible event and didn't stop Adam from committing a horrific crime.  Instead evil prevailed and 20 young children were lost yesterday along with 6 of their teachers / caregivers.  As a nation, our heart is  weeping for the lost of so many, especially so many young.  Our heart is heavy with the knowledge that in less then 2 weeks Christmas will be here and so many families will be grieving instead of celebrating, unable to find the hope of the season. 

But does that mean that God has forsaken us? Left us?  Does events like yesterday prove that there is no God? Is our prayer really too late??? 

I had a previous blog on the fact that God doesn't leave us, we are the ones who push God out and ignore the Divine presence.  Events like yesterday don't prove that God has left us - God never promises that nothing bad will happen or that all good will come.  In fact, the idea of living in "all good" only comes with the Kingdom of Heaven not with believing and praying.  Bad is still going to happen, evil is still reigning and no matter how much church we attend or how hard we believe we are still left with the knowledge that bad things can still happen to us.  And no matter how much we want to see our county as "God's country" or a "Christian nation" the reality is that God stopped protecting "his chosen" when Jesus opened salvation to all. 

But God can still be found in the tragic events of Newtown.  God was in the teachers who shield the survivors and remained clam.  God was in the strength it took for the first responders to do their jobs even though most of them knew children in that building.  God was in the brave children who were able to escape that room and God was there with all those children during the shooting - providing a clam, strong and loving presence.  Amongst the chaos, God was there.  And now, the prayers are needed for those families who lost loved ones and for a community that will never be the same.

I am reminded of a quote I read in a book once: "More and more people find themselves drinking at the wells of each other's spiritual traditions, and engaging in a deep and common quest" (Jim Wallis). Collectively, we grieved yesterday and are still grieving today for the lost of so many.  Our prayers and thoughts going out to those families are helping to fill the wells that this tragic event has sucked dry.   As we continue to look to each other and to God for understanding, it is there in our prayers and in the connection of the Divine Spirit within us that we will find hope.  Hope in the future, hope in the Kingdom, hope in faith.

As Christmas approaches and for some of us the hope seems lost.  Let us remember that for many of those living in Mary and Joseph’s time, hope seemed lost.  They were being ruled by Rome, society wasn’t the same and it felt that God was missing – especially to many of those who were lower class.  And when this baby was born, the hope that he brought wasn’t understood – it took another 30+ years, a lot of teaching and a resurrection to fully understand the hope that this Emmanuel gave to the world. 
We might not ever understand when tragedy comes our way and we might never be able to stop the evil that still exists in this world.  But we can choose to find hope, hope in the knowledge of our faith – hope in the presence of the Divine – hope in the collective Spirit that transcends us all.  Even if this Christmas is still too early for us, if we begin to accept the Spirit within us, one day we might find the hope that Jesus brought us. 

Accepting of Gifts

I was taught (after some hurt feelings to some Uncles) that you receive gifts with a gracious heart, even if you don't like it.  In fact, unless it didn't fit, we didn't return anything.  I have these relatives that lived far away who often sent me clothes that were huge and instead of returning them, we wrote thank you notes, sent pictures as a way to hint our sizes, and went on.  If the item was hand made that it was even more important that we showed how much we appreciated the time they spent on the item.  It didn't matter that it wasn't our taste, they had obviously spent a lot of time on this and thus we should be gracious.  But this wasn't forced gracious - it wasn't fake behavior.  What we learned was to be thankful that they thought of us, they the person tried and that the gift giver took time, even if it was shopping, to get something for us.

But that isn't always the case.  I know someone who received what they had on their "list" last year for Christmas but it wasn't the color they wanted to the next day they took it back to exchange it.  And that has become the norm.  When I worked in retail the day after Christmas people returned things for the craziest reasons and not usually because the fit wasn't right.  When it comes down to it we have gotten it in our heads that we need to get "what we want" and people have restored to buying each other gift cards so that the recipient can get just what they want.  But when did gift giving become all about the actual gift we get and not about the spirit or occasion being celebrated?

And worse...is this "what we want," even down to color and shape, a parallel to our challenging the Christian faith?  Is God's amazing gift of grace through the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ not enough for us anymore?  Is God's will clashing with our own desires to the point that we are denouncing the faith to be Spiritual or to not believe?  

Recently a police officer in good will, gave a man a pair of boots and socks.  It was a great moment in which he didn't ask to be recognized.  Days later, the news couldn't leave it alone - let it just be a nice moment.  Instead they had to track down the man, only to find him not wearing the boots, there are now claims that he wasn't really homeless...we are ruining the graciousness of the action of the police officer because of the humanness of that man.  And we are doing that within our own Spiritual journeys as well -

We are ruining the graciousness of God - the true love that God has for us and the true forgiveness of our sins - by allowing the humanness to get in the way.  By not accepting God's gift - either because we let the world and sins get in the way, maybe because we ruin the spirit in which the gift is given (freely) because we don't feel we deserve it or maybe because we find so many flaws with in the gift (Christianity) that we can't accept it.

Jesus didn't come down to give each of us what we wanted or to be genie in which wishes are granted.  But instead to offer us a relationship with God like done before, a relationship in which grace and forgiveness rule.  So this Christmas, let us with open and welcoming arms, let God into our hearts ... and be thankful that although faith and religion isn't as perfect as it could be, it is coming from God and through the Spirit to us with our fate in mind and with love for each of us.  Let us spread love, respect, grace and Christ this holiday instead of gifts that fit into selfish desires.