Hope In Hard Times
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love."
I Corinthians 13:13a
I logged on to check my e-mail today and this headline immediately caught my eye: "Lost Father Found Dead In Oregon Wilderness." I caught my breath. I felt a sharp, fleeting pain pass through me.
I had been hoping. Hoping and praying. Every time I heard or read a news story about the Kim family, the cry of my heart was "Please, God." Each time the family came to my mind during the day, I prayed "Please, God."
I know I wasn't the only one praying for James Kim. I believe there were at least tens of thousands, if not millions, who prayed for him to be found alive. I do not understand why there was not a happy ending to his story.
About the only good thing about getting old(er) is coming to the realization that I don't always have to understand and I'm not always going to understand. There is still a part of me that rebels at not being able to understand everything right now, and I talk to God, probably way more than he likes me to, about my dissatisfaction with not getting to see the big picture right now. But I have this hope:
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
1 Corinthians 13:12
Please pray that James Kim's family and friends will experience God's comfort in the days and weeks ahead.
--Leslie Porter
I Corinthians 13:13a
I logged on to check my e-mail today and this headline immediately caught my eye: "Lost Father Found Dead In Oregon Wilderness." I caught my breath. I felt a sharp, fleeting pain pass through me.
I had been hoping. Hoping and praying. Every time I heard or read a news story about the Kim family, the cry of my heart was "Please, God." Each time the family came to my mind during the day, I prayed "Please, God."
I know I wasn't the only one praying for James Kim. I believe there were at least tens of thousands, if not millions, who prayed for him to be found alive. I do not understand why there was not a happy ending to his story.
About the only good thing about getting old(er) is coming to the realization that I don't always have to understand and I'm not always going to understand. There is still a part of me that rebels at not being able to understand everything right now, and I talk to God, probably way more than he likes me to, about my dissatisfaction with not getting to see the big picture right now. But I have this hope:
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
1 Corinthians 13:12
Please pray that James Kim's family and friends will experience God's comfort in the days and weeks ahead.
--Leslie Porter
posted by L-Po @ 9:00 PM
1 Comments:
At 10:44 PM,
Anonymous said…
We received a family Christmas letter from a friend this last week. She mentioned how difficult it was going to be to go through the Christmas Season this year without her husband. Her letter was comprised of memories she and her children cherished about her husband, their father. I'm praying for her and her children during this time. I prayed for the Kims, also, and hoped that their Christmas Seasons wouldn't become tied to the death of Mr. Kim. Thinking about these family losses, and remembering my first Christmas without my own father years ago, somehow connected to a thought about Mary.
We don't know how many years Mary lived after the crucifiction, but we can be pretty sure that her heart was stirred each year as Jesus' birthday approached and that she again took out her heart treasures, re-living each jewel of joy and pain.
Being a good Protestant, I don't fully embrace the Catholic formulation, "Mary, pray for us...," and, so, don't really know if she is praying for God to comfort us as I've been praying for my friend and the Kims. Still, the thought that the mother of Jesus was touched by her losses as I am, does add to my appreciation of her "Christmas Seasons."
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