God: What about the Power of Third Party Prayer?

“Well, when there’s nowhere to go but up…” was the comment an advocate for atheism made concerning why people feel God working in their lives when they pray. Not only did the comment show the author’s lack of knowledge about the use of prayer—it’s not only used at times of desperation—it also suggested in times of desperation things can’t get any worse when we know of course things can get worse. Another question I’d purposed, after I turned sensitive to his point of view, is, “what about third party prayer”—how can that be psychosomatic?

                I was a junior in high school the first time I know for sure third party prayer affected my life. At my all girls school I stood in front of the lockers as crowds of girls got their things. Clutching the straps of my backpack I hunched over with a permanent scowl on my face. The world was so “UNFAIR!”.  I walked into my English class, my favorite subject, but this particular teacher’s expectations were such an enigma I was getting Cs. Only one girl was in the classroom already. I must have said something grumpy to the girl who was present because I remember her giving me the sympathy I wanted and still I was determined to maintain my scowl. But then she leaned over to me, put her hand on mine, which made me want to flinch, and said, “Can I pray for you?”

It’s not the kind of thing you say no to so I said, “okay” but it never sunk in what that meant and I remember thinking, “yeah, like that will help.” As I expected, the bell rang for next period and as class proceeded I was slouched in my seat, the bitterness inside me burning through all the hope. I went about my life, woke up at 6am was at school till 3:15pm then homework till midnight. Friday after school I’d take a nap till dinner, eat, then watch the two TV shows I recorded. Saturday’s were for homework. Sunday’s for church and more homework. Then the week would start over and I’d do it all again. I did it again and again. The bitterness, the scowl remained.

Then one day, my claws, which dug into the depression I was experiencing, suddenly retracted, as if without my doing. I realized my English teacher, despite my desire to be a novelist, did not determine my future, I would do my best and if that wasn’t good enough, I would be just fine. I immediately started to feel better and that feeling, though I could have run to my corner and dug my claws back into depression—the unfairness of the world was still present—for some reason I couldn’t be brought down.

                Then, one day even though we hadn’t interacted much, the same girl, who’d asked if she could pray for me, asked how I was. Her tone suggested she was still sympathetic of my sorrow. She hadn’t forgotten.

I told her, “I’m great!” It was all because of her prayers.

So when someone, in regard to the power of prayer says, “oh that’s just psychosomatic”, ask them, “What about third party prayer?”

When Packing for Vacation

I recently returned from a vacation. There are a few things I learned while packing and about my packing when I returned.

PLAN FOR A RANGE OF WEATHER Even if the weather will be “hot”, the evenings may be cool so a jacket (which I seem to wear no matter what the temperature) and some long pants are a must. Bring something for rain. It actually rained while I was away and I brought my iridescent poncho which rolls up in a tight ball. Even if you’re going to some place with snow bring something cooler, it could still be hot and often during such weather indoor places can be overheated.

HAVE A SUITCASE ON HAND: Du, right but as I started packing I found out mine was broken. Before the day of packing make sure you have a reasonable suitcase to pack in. Going out and having to buy something can really chip into that time set aside for the task of packing, which we seem to get to at the last minute. BUT if you have to go out and get something, you might as well start the laundry you need washed, in order to pack clean clothes.

DO LAUNDRY: Start it a couple days before you leave. There’s nothing worse than staying up all night the night before just to wait for the washing machine to finish. And it stands to reason if you’re going out of town for more than a week you’ll probably need to clean some underwear. But leave some of these at home, for the day after the trip. It’s a good chance you won’t do laundry that quick. Another factor in doing this is you don’t want those dirty clothes just sitting there while you’re away.

           HAVE VARIETY; While you may want to have the dilemma of which black pants to wear what happens if you find out you’ll be going fishing while you’re on that board retreat? A range of casual to fancy is best. For woman; conservative to slutty. Yes, it may be a romantic weekend but what happens when you run into an old friend of your husband’s and he and his wife want to have dinner with the two of you. A great way to create a range is bring outfits that can be easily modified. Cords and Capri’s can be dressed up or down depending on the shirt. A simple tank top under a low neck dress creates a more conservative look. Tank tops are always comfortable to sleep in so it may do double duty.

             KNOW THE WHO OF THE TRIP: If you can, which you can’t always, try and figure out what the people you’ll be going on the trip with are apt to want to do. Swimsuits and flip-flops at the beach are logical but what if your friends want to take a hike or go on a horseback ride? You’ll need tennis shoes. What kind of restaurants will they want to go to? Is it a place which requires a dress jacket?

             HAVE YOUR CLOTHES DO MULTIPLE TASKS: Every piece of clothing, besides underwear will be worn more than once. Try and make sure they can perform multiple tasks. Bringing that top just to match those jeans becomes useless when the jeans get stained on the plane. And mixing a matching creates a new outfit for everyday without having to bring something new for every day.

            DRESS FOR COMFORT: Not only physical comfort but emotional comfort. When I first started packing I packed all the outfits I never get a chance to wear and realized I don’t wear them because they’re not me so I’d be embarrassed to wear them. It would have been a disaster to pack only that stuff. So unless you wear a uniform every day pack the stuff you would wear ordinarily and try and stay away from stuff you haven’t worn before because it just takes up space when you find out you’re not comfortable in it.

      IF YOU'RE TO LIVE IN YOUR SWIMSUIT DON'T WASTE SPACE WITH BRAS; Obviously men, you can skip over this one, which is why it’s last. But women if going on a vacation where you’ll spend most of your time at the beach, lake or ocean, you won't have to take as many bras. You’ll probably only be using it for dinners, if you even get a chance to change out of that cute bikini top.

Don’t worry if when you get back from your trip there are a few items you didn’t wear. Even though, because I wore the same things over and over again, I didn't get a chance to wear them, during my Lake Michigan trip I was glad I had the sweat pants and “go ahead and ruin them jeans”.