prayers on the wing

No one in my family will sit next to me in a movie.
I become emotionally involved with the story and yell things at the screen.
Years ago, during a tense scene in Air Force One when Harrison Ford was struggling,
I yelled out, "Jesus, help him."
Scott leaned over and said, "Quit bothering Jesus. He has real prayers he needs to listen to."
It didn't matter that it was a fictional tale....it felt real to me.
I often find myself praying out loud as I watch the news.
As I have watched of the footage of the Boston Marathon unfold these past few days
I can't help thinking those were just regular folks who were out to have the best day of their life.
They were expecting a celebration with their family and friends at the finish line not a tragedy.
Instead they are  reeling from an senseless, violent, evil act.
And we are reeling with them. Because that is what we as humans do.
Their story in some way becomes our story.
We weep along with the families who have lost a child, a sister, a son, a daughter.
We rejoice together at the goodness that we see in our fellow man
as people ran towards chaos to help those who were wounded.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in spirit as they move forward to heal and recover.
And we pray.
We cry out on their behalf, "Jesus, help them."
Because He is the one who can comfort, who can heal, who can restore.
In these next weeks as their stories are played out on network news,
I am going to try hard not to be overwhelmed by the horror of what has happened.
I am going to let my soul lift with hope at each act of kindness and courage and
goodness that played out that day.
And I am going to see each news story as a sovereign opportunity to pray.
To talk to Jesus about these people that He loves so much.
To ask for his healing, his grace and peace to intervene in their chaos and to ask
Him to enfold them with his great love, wiping  away their tears and healing their hearts.
It is what He does best.