Reflections By Dr. Richard Reed

April 30, 2007

All across our nation during the month of May there is a focus on prayer among various churches and denominations. The month begins with the National Day of Prayer observance (first Thursday in May), morning and evening prayer services, special Vesper services for graduating high school and college seniors, and other special services to recognize a host of life-changing events. Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia records the following in the book, “Who Speaks For God,” by Jim Wallis. I think this passage reflects the importance of remembering that we are all part of the family of God and when we pray, we are praying for our family.

Several years ago at a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington , D.C. , one of the speakers told the following true story:

A reporter was covering the tragic conflict in the middle of Sarajevo , and he saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The reporter threw down his pad and pencil, and stopped being a reporter for a few minutes. He rushed to help the man who was holding the child, and helped them both into his car. As the reporter stepped on the accelerator, racing to the hospital, the man holding the bleeding child said, “Hurry, my friend, my child is still alive.” A moment or two later, “Hurry, my friend, my child is still breathing.” A moment later, “Hurry my friend, my child is still warm.” Finally, ‘Hurry. Oh, my God, my child is getting cold.”

When they got to the hospital, the little girl had died. As the two men were in the lavatory, washing the blood off their hands and their clothes, the man turned to the reporter and said, “This is a terrible task for me. I must go tell her father than his child is dead. He will be heartbroken.” The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving man and said, “I though she was your child.” The man looked back and said, “No, but aren’t they all our children?”

Let us keep one another in our prayers.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Richard