April 20, 2007
Not Needed
New York Times reporter Laurie Goodstein wrote about the role the church is playing in the lives of Latinos’. A quote from Edgar Chilin, who immigrated from Guatemala 25 years ago, caught my attention. “We pray to God when we feel the need to, but when we come here to America, we don’t feel the need.” I don’t know about you, but I can hear multiple sermon topics coming from this statement. Personally, I can’t get through a day without prayer, so I’m having difficulty comprehending not feeling the need to pray. I don't wish Edgar any ill-will, but I’m praying that something happens in his American lifestyle which shows him the ‘need to pray to God’.
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Gail;
-----I can see where Edgar is coming from. There are insecurities in Guatemala which create a need for prayer that just do not exist at a significant level in the US. What a relief to immigrate to here! In fact, that was probably an answer to many prayers he made in Guatemala.
-----However, America generates needs for prayer unique to itself. I often ask God to forgive me for so flippantly turning on the lights, the hot water, the kitchen range, TV, or internet. From the cozy security of my bed I have the opportunity to realize that the Holy Spirit’s gift of giving has as much to do with how much is possessed as it does with how much desire there is to share it. From the comfort of my vehicle on the way to work to earn more I can think of those who live in economies where there is no such concept of going to work and earning, let alone driving a car.
-----Do I think about these things enough? I don’t think I do. That is just one of the needs for prayer America places upon me. I try never to forget that I live like a king in this ordinary American life. And that comfort, as much as it is a blessed gift from God, can be corrosive to the spiritual ability of having sympathy with those who hurt until the sympathetic pains break open the coffers of my security.
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