It was a gorgeous morning, and I was enjoying it every step of the way to my car. As I stopped at an intersection to wait for a car to pass, I noticed the woman behind the steering wheel of the car. She was crying. A “this is too much for me, God I hate my life right now” sort of cry.
What had brought this stranger to her tears I do not need to know. But as I stood on the edge of that curb, I knew I was being invited to pray. “Lord God, wrap her in your love.” That’s all. A very simple prayer, demanding little time and composition.
Now, I could have simply acknowledged my observation of this woman crying, and muttered some sort of “Poor lady” to myself, and been on my way. But by sending forth a desire of God’s blessing, I was joining myself to her through God. The moment now was one of communion rather than mere observation and pity—as genuine as that pity was. I was joined to her in a way that simple pity doesn’t offer, and joined to her through the One who created and sustains us both. It’s a subtle but profound difference.
How many times a day are we being invited to send cries of petition or gratitude or praise or blessing? A moment’s worth of eternity. How many times a day do we catch the invitation, read it, and follow through? What opportunities God sends our way to be present in the moment, to join ourselves to God and to God’s created life!
Today, catch one of those invitations and respond to it, even just one. Enter eternity, even for a moment, with your attention to another and to God.
