By Marian Brennen Pratt
Here’s the question. When we lose something should we pray to find it or should we just double-down on our effort and the lost article might very well turn up on its own? Those who believe in prayer will be horrified by this kind of talk, but it’s only a question. I’m trying to make sense of my life here. I need time to think.
My kids were little in the early 1970s. For about five years of my life, I answered every question four little kids could possibly ask. Now all these years later, I need to sort out if any of what I told them was true. Since the kiddos are all grown up now, I have lots of time to think and I have to say, I’m a little annoyed that I haven’t thought of anything particularly mindboggling yet. For instance: When you hear of people who want to sell their house, burying a statue upside down in the back yard, you must admit if the saint had half a mind to help, how would leaving him in such an ignominious position help your cause? Why upside down? Who came up with that? I have no answer.
The reason I bring this up? Today I am making a concentrated effort to find the things that are lost in this place. I started out by praying, first to St. Anthony. He’s had a pretty good reputation. I prayed to Mary – Poor Mary. A friend told me one time “When you need help, say “Mary, take over.” I’ve said that so many times with such good results, that I picture Mary hiding behind a tree thinking “What does she want now?” We probably all remember Job who lost everything in his whole wide world; at least I wasn’t that bad…..yet.
Regarding my list of lost stuff: I have 3 pairs of earrings; one of each pair is gone. That seems highly unlikely, doesn’t it, yet there it is. My $400 bite splint is gone. I can see no way that will ever be replaced. My mother’s ring is gone – not the one they gave me in high school when they didn’t have any money, the one that I got after they graduated, and all had jobs. I noticed this lump in the carpet yesterday and I got to wondering if the ring might be under there. Really? A person can become deranged at this if you’re not careful.
Another lost item was one that I didn’t know was lost. I didn’t know it was lost because I didn’t know I had it. Or at least I didn’t think I had it. I was wrong. Some time ago I received a notice that I was in arrears of $9.75 on a certain library book. I tossed it out because I knew I had not checked that book out. I had never even heard of that book. I received other statements from time to time. Zip……..………into the trash they went. On my quest to find lost items, the first thing I found was that book. The one I had never heard of. I took the book to the library and they charged me $18.00 and kept the book too. Does that seem fair to you? Maybe it does since I had never heard of it anyway. Mary, behind the tree, had a good laugh.
The end of the day is upon us and all I found was that stupid book so now since there is still lots of stuff missing in this household, I must decide, should I pray harder? Don’t know. Wishing I had time to think has not led me to absolute certainty. The only thing I think I know is that you receive according to what you believe. If you think you will sell the house by chucking a statue head down in the back yard, you might just do that. If you don’t bury the statue, I guess you’ll never know.
I bought a new pair of earrings today – very inexpensive, so I’m hoping for the best. The best being that they stay in my possession (both of them) for more than a week and they don’t make my ears green. A couple of days after I told you all this, there was a little miracle. I found the expensive mother’s ring. It was in my jewelry box. I thought I looked there.
So now let’s go back to that part about a miracle. Really? If I’m using the word miracle, there must be an answer in there someplace. Maybe I’m willing to give more credit to praying than I think. I wonder if we’re not always sure of what we believe until it shows up while we’re living our lives and not paying attention.
I worked at a church for 24 years and when I had to ask for volunteers, I always told them they would have a higher place in heaven. That worked pretty well but there was one other thought that was not so easily accepted. In the Bible, Jesus says, “Where two or more come together to pray for a purpose, I am there with them” That’s a pretty loose paraphrase to begin with but when I was through with it, it was almost unrecognizable. My interpretation was “Where two or more are gathered together, you can have anything you want.” I guess you can see how that might not catch on with the general church population. Mary behind the tree is having another good laugh.
All kidding aside. My current plan is to seek to understand the things in my life that need a better understanding on my part. Does that sound a little too simple or a little too complicated? Don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. As of now, I’m sidelining the quest for lost objects. By the time I get back to it maybe all that stuff will have turned up by itself. But then I’ll be working prayer over again if the items found themselves. Remember, I did say that a person could become deranged thinking about this stuff. Maybe the real answer is, instead of trying to figure out the answers maybe I just need to rely on faith, get up off the couch and do something for somebody. It may be that thinking is overrated.
