8-7-23<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alienation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is one the most prevalent, and serious, of problems in society today. No\u2026 not an \u201calien nation.\u201d That<\/em> controversy \u2013 or threat, or mystery, or conspiracy of silence \u2013 I am persuadable is a manufactured distraction from real, honest, terrestrial dangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we do hear a lot about people who are \u201calienated\u201d from society, from their families, from neighbors and co-workers. It is ironic and therefore true (irony always derives from truth) that the more crowded our society is\u2026 the more \u201cinter-connected\u201d\u2026 the more \u201cwelcoming,\u201d \u201caccessible,\u201d \u201cintegrated\u201d we are \u2013 the more alienated people have become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alienation, isolation. Many people \u2013 again, despite the crush of neighbors and the menu of diversions \u2013 are convinced of having arrived at the end of the line. Their lines… their lives. They know nobody; they trust nobody; they have nobody to turn to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can they know if we don\u2019t tell them?<\/em> That situation is a lie from hell \u2013 they are not isolated; they don\u2019t have to feel that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OK, your family has left you. But Jesus hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your friends have betrayed you. Hey, it happened to Jesus too; He knows. He will not betray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Counselors have been worthless? Don\u2019t trust in people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Government outreaches are\u2026 Let\u2019s not even go there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calling out to God is a prayer that never <\/em>goes unanswered. Opening a Bible will lead to Comfort. Finding a Christian to talk to, pray with, share things\u2026 will never come up empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prayer cancels alienation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lonely people already have an answer, even if they do not know it. \u201cWhen two or three are gathered in My name\u2026\u201d You can be the loneliest person in the Lonely Spot in the middle of Lonelieville\u2026 and there will be <\/em>two gathered when you seek the Lord. The Holy Spirit is promised to be with you in those moments when your heart cries out. You are never alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible also talks about the \u201cGreat Cloud of Witnesses\u201d in Heaven who watch us\u2026 and cheer us on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my life, I went through a period of doubt, who hasn\u2019t? and my father said he trusted me. My mother always prayed with me. But my mother\u2019s brother, Ed, and his wife, my Aunt Mildred, had strayed from the family\u2019s Lutheran roots and became \u201creligious nuts\u201d (in my parents\u2019 view) \u2013 they went to a Billy Graham crusade. And, horrors, they were more committed Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aunt Mildred used to phone me out of the blue and encourage me \u2013 no \u201chard sell\u201d; she was praying for me, that\u2019s all. Uncle Ed, when he visited Washington DC when I was in college, arranged lunches and reminded me\u2026 that he was praying for me. In the midst of my wise-ass doubting stage, I never was offended, but\u2026 I never forgot these gestures either. When my cousin Irene went to college near me outside Chicago the year I worked there, I almost felt like I would catch some strange spiritual disease from her…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, eventually I became more of a religious nut than they (um, a Pentecostal reference). Eventually I delivered one of the eulogies at Uncle Ed\u2019s funeral. And Reni is my dearest cousin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, you see, I realized the power of prayer\u2026 was not always my prayers, but even the prayers of people I didn\u2019t know were praying for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allow Captain Obvious to share this: God is sovereign. He can do what He wants. He does<\/em> do what He wants. Yet\u2026 He has instituted the \u201cchannel\u201d of prayer \u2013 the language; the means of communication. Can prayer influence God? Well, the Bible has examples of that; yes. Does He answer every prayer? Yes. But\u2026 sometimes in \u201cHis time.\u201d And sometimes His answer is No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where faith and trust come in. But it all pleases God. Prayer is the key to Heaven, but faith unlocks the door; do you know that song?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the meantime\u2026 friends are praying for you. Strangers are praying for you. The hosts of Heaven are watching and cheering. And, as I said, when you pray, you are never <\/em>alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 and, hey \u2013 in the meantime, what happened to \u201calienation\u201d? Praying people are in the Family of God. Not alone. Will never face challenges alone, or problems alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once upon a time there was a group of men, gathered from far and wide, risking their lives to make momentous decisions. Gathered in a hot room \u2013 this was in the middle of summer in the 1700s, and they kept the windows closed \u2013 but they suddenly felt frustrated, at odds, arguing, almost alone in their deliberations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the Founders of our Nation, the brightest and bravest, but all of a sudden in a confused crisis\u2026 can we say alienated, not knowing which way or ways to turn? Benjamin Franklin stood up and suggested that they do something immediately that the group had not done yet\u2026 and do it every morning henceforth: Pray together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n