gary's corner

Earlier I was talking to a friend who was amazed that God actually answered his prayers. This was not a small request, but a major one, and I am sure he was unsure anyone could help him. I know that there are times when we really wonder if anyone up there is listening, and hey, the same thing happens to me. When I am really close to despair sometimes I wonder too. So I thought maybe it might help if I said something about this to the rest of you.

Over the years I have learned that God always answers prayers. Sometimes God says "yes," sometimes "no," but the very worst one for most of us, including me, is "WAIT AWHILE!" I have to admit that I hate that answer. Now I am sure a lot of you out there think that if God is the supreme Lord of the universe why do we have to wait? It's simple. God cannot violate any human's free will. That is the most precious gift we were given and to do so would be to go back on his promise to let us make our own decisions. God gave us the ability to love and believe in him or not. The problem then is when we ask for something that requires God to act in another person's life to get him or her to go along. As human beings we know that sometimes that is going to take some doing. Some of the things we want require a lot of work on God's part to convince someone to go along, and that often takes some time.

There have been times, for example, when I was really in need of money. Sometimes when I prayed for help I received a rather quick answer and funds I desperately needed came from the most unexpected of sources. At other times I was told that what I wanted wasn't really necessary or wasn't going to be good for me, and that if I thought about it long enough I would see that too. Hey, believe it or not, I did.

I have also been told to wait awhile. That's rough, to say the least. When that happens we are all tempted to think God doesn't care, isn't concerned or even that he hates us. Then, when months or years pass and our prayer is finally answered we are amazed and surprised. Maybe we had given up all hope. It really just means that the others whose cooperation we needed finally said okay.

Do you have a need? Just ask. You don't have to talk to God in flowery or stilted language. Just be yourself. Simply say, "God, I really need your help here." And if you really want a yes answer or you don't know what to pray for, just ask that God's most perfect will for you will be accomplished. You may not get what you want, but you will be happy with what finally comes to pass, and like me, you might just see that what God had in mind was far better than what you wanted.

God bless you all.

Category: General

After to listening to Truckerdoc's radio show from last Saturday with my cousin Lyndon (lenutt) as her guest I was reminded of something that happened to me shortly after I was ordained some thirty years ago. About two in the morning a police officer and funeral director came to the rectory to ask me to accompany them to the home of a long distance trucker who had been killed on the highway to inform his wife and family of the tragedy. The trucker's wife and children were members of my church and although he was not a member he used to attend with the family when he was in town.

As you can imagine, breaking that kind of news to anyone is rough, but when you see your priest, a police officer and a funeral director, you're pretty certain the news isn't going to be good. The widow handled herself well considering the circumstances and we had the funeral a couple of days later. But it did remind me of just how close we can come to death each day of our lives and to live each day as fully as possible. I'd say that goes double for you guys out on the road as well as the police, highway patrol, military and other service oriented professionals who try to keep us safe. Over the years I have buried too many people who died giving their lives for the safety of others. My consolation is is that God has a warm welcome for them at the heavenly banquet.

May God keep all of you safe out there!

Category: General