1 Timothy 2: 1-8 (links validated 10/24/24a)

Few American short story writers had and wielded more power to shock their readers than Flannery O’Connor. Few of O’Connor’s short stories shocked and unsettled her readers more than A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Grandma’s family members have been murdered in cold blood by a group of serial killers that’s led by Misfit. She tries to convince Misfit to pray, perhaps in hopes he’ll spare her life. “’If you would pray,’ the old lady said, ‘Jesus would help you.’ ‘That’s right,’ the Misfit said. ‘Well, then, why don’t you pray?’ she asked, trembling with delight suddenly. ‘I don’t want no help,’ he said. ‘I’m doing all right by myself’.”

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Preacher Thomas Long tells a story about Grace Thomas. Grace was born in the early twentieth century as the second of five children. Her father was a streetcar conductor in Birmingham, Alabama, and so Grace grew up in modest circumstances. Later in life after getting married and moving to Georgia, Grace took a clerking job in the state capitol in Atlanta, where she developed a fondness for politics and the law. So, although already a full-time mother and a full-time clerk, Grace enrolled in night school to study law.

Imagine two people engaged in a conversation, with one pausing and then—with a raised voice—continuing with: “Truthfully speaking,” he said. Or: “To be frank with you,” she said. Or maybe: “In all honesty,” he said. Whenever those phrases are expressed, I inwardly cringe. Does this mean the speaker was deceitful until they added Truthfully and To be frank and Honestly? Subtext defines most communication. How do you know a person means what they say? What lurks “between the lines?” When another claims to be truthful, are they emphasizing vulnerable openness or disguising real feelings?...

In 1818, James Montgomery wrote a hymn about prayer. Of his more than four hundred hymns including Go to Dark Gethsemane and Angels from the Realms of Glory, he thought this one was his finest. Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, Unuttered or expressed; The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast. The saints in prayer appear as one In word, in deed, and mind, While with the Father and the Son Sweet fellowship they find. No prayer is made by man alone The Holy Spirit pleads, And Jesus, on th’eternal throne, For sinners intercedes. O Thou by Whom we come to God, The Life, the Truth, the Way, The path of prayer Thyself hast trod: Lord, teach us how to pray...

Prayer is talking and listening to God. I tried to explain this in a children's sermon one Sunday morning, and I'll tell you up front, I fell flat on my face. My premise was this: Talking and listening to God is like talking over the telephone: Like when Grandma calls, you can't see her, but you know she's there, and you can say anything you want, and she'll understand. She just loves to hear your voice. I brought an extension phone from home to use as a prop. I set it on the floor and made my little spiel, then I asked if anyone wanted to try it. I was hoping one of the older kids would volunteer. I figured they'd do a little play acting and sell the idea to the younger children. Instead, a three-year-old raised her hand. Well, I didn't have much choice. I handed her the receiver and said, "O.K., here you go. Just say anything you want to and God will be listening. Susanne put the receiver to her ear and just sat there. I prompted her again. "Go ahead, Susanne, just say whatever comes to your mind." Still, she just sat there. The clock was ticking. The congregation was waiting. Susanne was stuck. Finally, I asked, "Is anything the matter?" She gave me this pitiful look and said, "But there's no one at home."...

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("How long would your list be if you took inventory of your blessings - all of that for which you can give thanks?...")

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