Prayers
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I Pass, I Wonder
A couple of miles from my home, just off the highway, an old shed juts out of the side of a hill near a double-wide trailer. Such distant structures don’t usually catch my eye, but the last couple of weekends, my wife has done the driving when we venture out. I’ve enjoyed the break and especially the chance to see things I don’t usually notice because I’m focused on the road ahead. The other day I took notice of the shed, and the fact that what looked like an older man was sitting inside the shed in a chair, hunkered over a desk or table. What could he be doing?…
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Rides Upon The Storm
If you are so moved, please pray for our family and friends in Texas, who are in the path of Hurricane Laura. The region has barely recovered from the 2017 hurricane, and this one’s fury may eclipse that one. My wife and I appreciate your prayers for our loved ones. The kids and grandkids are battened down and braced to endure. Pray especially for the poor people who are unable to evacuate to higher ground, and for the tough Texas cowboys who will not abandon their herds. The folks in Louisiana are probably going to be hit particularly hard. God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He…
- Church Life, Daily Life, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Lectio Divina, Prayers, Reflections
Slight Return
I was a gangly skint-kneed sliver of a boy of eleven when I became a Christian. The term we used then was “getting saved,” and I got saved at a summertime Vacation Bible School worship service to which I had been invited by my best friend. Since that first terrifying moment when I stepped out into the aisle to make my way down front, feeling as if an invisible hand were pushing me along, my path has looped around to some interesting landmarks. I started out at the Church of the Nazarene, then faded into twilight in my teen years as I visited but never committed to a number of…
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Mystery, Life, Syllables
My dear friend Father James, the Trappist monk who lives at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, has been much on my mind lately. I wrote him this morning and hope to hear back from him soon. He has been having some health problems lately, and at his age, his remaining time is speeding up, is precious, is like the dust on a butterfly’s wing: fine and invaluable. I watched a video about the abbey on Youtube and noticed near the end a series of photos taken in the woods surrounding the monastery. Some of the pictures were taken near Thomas Merton’s (Father Louis’s) hermitage on the grounds there.…
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For Lauds, Saturday, August 8th A.D. 2020
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Coming Apart
“And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little..” — Mark 6:31a (Douay-Rheims Version) Time has come for me to step away from blogging for a while, my friends. I would like to put a good, stoic face on things and say that I’m just taking a summer break. But the truth is that I am increasingly weary… physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. The cares of this world have gotten me in a pretty good headlock, and I simply don’t have the force to push back right now. Many years ago, I heard an old Baptist preacher say, “If we don’t come apart for…
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Prayer Request UPDATE
The cardiac catheterization showed no blockages. In fact, Jason’s cardiovascular system is clean and strong. He’s been discharged home and is getting some much-needed rest. The challenge now is for his primary care physician and the specialists to ascertain exactly what the trouble was. From my own experience, I suspect some sort of gastrointestinal issue. Jason will be following up with his treatment team in the coming days. We’re so very grateful that Jason didn’t have a heart attack or any other critical issues. And we are especially grateful for the prayers of those who interceded for him. Thank you, my dear friends. Thank you so much. May our Father…
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Please Pray
Our eldest son Jason was taken to hospital this morning. “Feels like someone standing on my chest,” he told my wife. We’re awaiting the cardiologist to perform a catheterization. Please pray for Jason, for his wife, for his children, and for my wife. He’s very calm and resolute, but this is a stressful time for the family, especially the waiting. I don’t understand prayer, but I rely on it. And I appreciate any that you might offer, dear friends. ~ S.K. Orr
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Can Anything Good….
….come out of Africa? Here I am — behold me, a Southern man in whom there is considerable guile. I spent the day walking beneath a haze, a film of wind-blown filth from the dark continent. The normally sparkling mountain air was impure, casting a mosquito net of dark, obscuring Saharan dust across my green mountains and valleys. When the spattering, sporadic showers came, they left muddy smudges on the sleek surfaces they coated. My eyes and nose seemed to sting a bit, and the world felt…hidden. What are those words with similar meanings? Occult. Apocalypse. Jinx and I walked by a neighbor’s fields, and three horses gamboled in the…
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Twinkling Of An Eye
Yesterday morning, I did something I rarely do. I stopped for breakfast on the way to work. I’ve been feeling less-than-stellar lately, mostly because of work-related stress. I try to heed my body’s promptings, and yesterday was one of the times I sensed a clear prompting. I usually don’t eat breakfast during the week, and then I enjoy my wife’s breakfast-brunch feasts on the weekends — I just function better this way. But when I awake feeling puny, I do eat a bite in the mornings in order to fuel myself for the day. So I went through the drive-thru at a locally-owned joint that serves first-rate sausage biscuits. Got…