Enter In
It was late and I’d just pulled the blankets up to my chin. The cell phone buzzed from inside the socks next to the bed.
Sometimes, I slip the socks over cold feet during these cool summer nights in South Dakota. Last night I’d slipped the phone between them on the floor to muffle the buzz a little — enough to keep the daily 1:00 am email that alerts me to hail activity somewhere in the country from waking us, but not so much as to cover a call or text from my son who was spending the night with friends.
Just in case.
It was his text that stopped me from falling straight to sleep, asking if I knew who was in the ambulance that just went by. He worries a little when he hears the sirens, he said.
Their daddy taught these boys to pray when they hear the ambulance or helicopter go by. Even now as young men, they pay attention to the sound.
I assured him we were all safe at home, told him I loved him, and then dropped back to the pillow and did not, for a while, sleep.
The sound of the sirens, long since past my quiet street, echoed in my mind.
Japan still quakes.
Folks just a few hours to the west and to the north have packed up and left their homes, not expecting to find them back when the floodwaters which now gobble up the landscape by the acre finally recede.
A late night text from a friend feeling alone wonders what God’s doing with her life, with her family, when He’s going to come through for her.
Another watches and waits beside hospital bed, wanting to hold together what only He can.
Friends wrestle with the dark days, dissecting yesterday and last year to find what went wrong, when it will turn right again.
I watch relationships that form our foundations strain and fray under the weight of what is spoken that shouldn’t be and kept silent that should be said.
A friend sits in the desert, parched, wondering what happened to the springs that used to gush with cool water.
And yet another longs for direction while walking a maze where every turn only reveals more, none appearing more certain or right or less a dead-end than the next.
Homes and bodies, spirits and hearts are breaking all around us.
What do we do with that?
I dropped to the floor this morning, because I don’t know what else to do when the world quakes. And after a little while at the page where Paul wrote his thanks to the faithful at Philippi for sharing in his troubles, we talked about the breaking, the troubles, the sirens shrieking past.
Until I finally decided to just be quiet and let His Spirit speak for me, I’m afraid I sounded a good deal like a certain neophyte politician during her first big national media interview, stringing important sounding words together in an incoherent set of talking points. When I sensed He might be reaching for the mute button on the remote (not really, but I’m pretty sure I did hear Him snicker), I stopped.
My head dropped, and the tears came, and then just a few words.
For all of them.
Mercy. Mercy. Mercy.
Father, enter in.
Enter in.
That’s what I’ve got. These that I love so, I need You to enter in.
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And you? What are you praying today?
How can we pray for you here, in this place?
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Photo by yenhoon
joining tears and prayers from hearts ripped jagged this day…LORD have mercy…and He does…LORD intercede…and He will…do whatever it takes to create our loved ones into who You’ve created them to be…
2011/06/24 at 6:51 PM
…and He does …and He will.
Yes, Connie. Yes.
2011/06/24 at 9:53 PM
This, a blessing no man could bring along with worth and meaning, poured out by grace from God above, below, beside, within … His love. It shines most bright when we’re at a loss and can’t see reason behind the cost of sin and the broken earth that hates to mourn and grasps for mirth. No solution will ring as true as Christ, the answer to hearts confused.
Thanks for the inspiration. Your thoughts are beautiful and helped to soothe my wounded heart. I’ll pray the same prayer with you.
2011/06/24 at 7:10 PM
A beautiful thing you’ve given us here, Karen. Above, below, beside, within . . . Yes. That.
I link arms with that world that refuses to mourn sometimes. But I know this: without the mourning, there is no comfort. Might He bring that to you tonight.
2011/06/24 at 10:04 PM
Oh how I understand those prayers Lyla. I am praying for healing for those most precious to me – healing of body, soul and spirit. Often I find myself praying a simple prayer a friend suggested: Jesus Christ have mercy. Somehow it brings a sense of peace, of knowing He is coming.
2011/06/24 at 7:22 PM
That’s what I’m talking about, Linda. You know.
Praying this right next you, my sweet, sweet friend.
2011/06/24 at 10:05 PM
Amen to what Linda said.
2011/06/24 at 8:44 PM
Amen to what you said, Nancy.
Love that you add your voice to the chorus.
2011/06/24 at 10:06 PM
I love your writing.. how you think out loud , invite us into , it makes a sacred space.
and yes, mercy indeed. peace be with you . and all them. and all of us.
2011/06/24 at 9:41 PM
Smiling, quiet, that you feel welcome.
All of us, Deb. Oh, my. All of us.
Tall order. Makes me ask it with even fewer words.
Mercy.
2011/06/24 at 10:08 PM
Husband and I were sitting in bed the other night talking about the worlds crashing down around us, too–so many people losing so much, losing each other, losing themselves. We’ve seen our share of storms, but it still is heart breaking to see others go through them, too.
Here, we are praying for health–husband brought home something from his 24-hour stint in the airport last Friday/Saturday.
2011/06/24 at 9:47 PM
Jennifer, I’ve prayed for Doug, and for the rest of you to stay clear of it. Even the chocolate boy.
2011/06/24 at 10:09 PM
Father, Your will, not mine.
The hardest prayer for me, and the only one that fits times like these.
Love to you, Lyla.
2011/06/24 at 10:03 PM
Would that my will were more often the same as His. But you’re so right. It’s why I fall back to the few words — hoping to stay out of the way. Joining my heart to yours, Sheila. Thank you.
2011/06/24 at 10:11 PM
Beautiful words here, Lyla. Sometime when worlds are crashing down around all I know how to say is “Jesus” His name alone brings peace.
You are such a gift…..
2011/06/25 at 9:00 AM
Your words, a gift to my broken heart.
2011/06/25 at 1:49 PM
Yes.
Father have mercy on us all, for we are all sinners and fall short of your Glory.
2011/06/25 at 3:24 PM