| It is Good to Talk |
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Our Father in heaven, May your holy name be honoured; May your kingdom come, May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us today the food we need; Forgive us the wrong we have done, As we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Do not bring us to hard testing but deliver us from the Evil One. (Matthew 6: vs 9-13) Praying in extraordinary times and places You may remember the terrifying storm in 1979, which destroyed a number of boats and drowned 15 men taking part in the Fastnet Yacht Race. One survivor, Nick Ward, has recently published his own account, when his life hung in the balance.* Only now, some 28 years later, has he found it possible to tell his story. Facing mountainous waves and gale force 10 winds, his yacht, ‘Grimalkin’, was soon in trouble. Having capsized several times, her mast and rigging was ripped away and her crew thrown into the sea. Some of the crew risked all by abandoning the boat and taking to the fragile life-raft. Meanwhile, Nick, regaining consciousness in the ice-cold water, managed to haul himself back on board. Later, a gigantic wave washed aboard the body of another crewman, trapping Nick underneath him in the cockpit. With all hope apparently gone, he remembered the prayer his mother taught him, many years before. It began - ‘Our Father in heaven...’. It‘s just a thought, but I wonder how Nick Ward coped with the part of the prayer we are talking about this month? 4: ‘May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven!’ This is the most difficult part of the prayer at the best of times – let alone the worst! Of course Nick Ward wanted to be rescued from the life and death situation – and we too usually know what we want God to do for us when we pray. Yet it is so hard to put our personal wants to one side and pray sincerely that God’s will, not ours, will be done in the situation. But think about it for a moment. If God is our loving heavenly Father, then we must expect him to act responsibly toward his children. As loving, responsible parents ourselves, with years of hard-learned experience behind us, we too will be ready to say a firm ‘no’ to our children who pressurise us to agree to some harmful or unwise request. So near, yet so far... During the war years, an uncle stored his magnificent Raleigh bicycle in our spare room. For 5 years it stood, upside down, resting on its seat and handlebars to keep the tyres from perishing. I was allowed to polish it, and even turn the pedals and get the back wheel going at speed – but never to ride it! It may have been so frustrating for a boy, but this was a man-sized bike! Even when my uncle failed to return from Italy in 1945 (he was shot and killed by a sniper) it was two more years before my parents reckoned that it was safe for me to ride it. What it means in practice No loving parent will permit their son to carry a knife, have access to drugs or get mixed up with young people involved in crime. No caring parent will allow their daughter to stay out until all hours of the night, dress provocatively, or get involved with a complete stranger on the Internet. God’s perfect will
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