It was tempting to stay inside, drink coffee and enjoy the peace and quiet of home on a dreary Saturday morning. It was better to fight temptation and head to the track. Because for every “Why on earth am I doing this?,” there was an unspoken answer deep within: “Because you process things better here and clear your mind here...and especially, get the right perspective here.”
But I was not ready for, in the words of the great Yogi Berra, “it’s like deja vu all over again.”
Because with the usual last leg sprint to the finish, a strange “where have I seen this before?” moment flashed through my mind: The wind and light rain in my face, the same dim lighting of the gray morning, and the empty grandstand. The sounds of silence…No one wants to relive the pandemic lockdown of 2020, but that is just what I was reliving on that last sprint.
And it wasn’t a bad thing but a good thing—actually, a healthy kick-in-the-behind thing delivered from Heaven as if in a “just a friendly reminder” that it’s easier to pray when in crisis mode and then let it slip at other times. It was April then, not December. But the run, wind, rain, eery morning light, the empty grandstand were the same, and provided a flashback of what it all triggered that morning in 2020. Something really important and timeless—
Every prayer we make, big and small, starts right where we are…
...There is so much going on to pray about, and it’s overwhelming.
Where to start?
Even if I can’t swallow all the world’s problems, I can always start right here, right where God has planted me.
Because God has said: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you …and pray to the Lord on its behalf…” (Jeremiah 29:7)
This O little town, just like a lot of O little towns—in the middle of nowhere,
But it is still somewhere special to God, and God always notices, and as a song says, “You love this city and You love these streets.”
And I am not here at this time in history by accident, even if only to seek its welfare.
So I will start here and pray prayers of blessing over it in every way.
Pray big prayers, like Awakening—which is beyond my imagination but not too big for God.
And protection from all sorts of evil and tragedy.
And for small businesses to not just survive but thrive.
And for overwhelmed parents and teachers, and restless, stressed students.
And for the hospital, retirement/nursing homes, and emergency responders who battle giants of every kind every day.
But also, I will pray seemingly small but important prayers—the ones that can sound silly coming out of your mouth.
Like when you run past the empty bleachers at the track and yell,
“Lord, please fill them again, shoulder to shoulder, full of joy—by September!”
(And leaping for joy now knowing that prayer was answered in a big way, even if not in September of 2020)
Knowing that those are not silly prayers at all because God likes using sporting things in the Bible like running races and boxing to drive home important things in life like perseverance, faithfulness, passion, and never giving up.
Things I still cannot hear enough of on this Journey.
But more than that, also not a silly prayer at all because it is really a prayer about
Community,
And community is not the idea of some planner or civic leader or chamber of commerce.
The inventor is God—it has been His intention from the very beginning:
“It isn’t good for man to be alone…” (Genesis 2:18) and “He makes a home for those who are alone.” (Psalm 68:6)...
A December 2022 update...And community right now, especially during this season, is needed more than ever.
When the holidays can exacerbate triggers of loneliness, and loss of family and friends.
When a phone or the Internet can too easily become someone’s best but can’t-hear-feel-or-touch friend.
And to know that I am, or once was, or might easily become one of them.
And to start praying again—right where God has planted me.
In this O little town, in the middle of nowhere…
(To all who pass this way today, insert the name of your town here________, and go.)
“Who knows but that you were brought to the kingdom for a time like this?”—Esther 4:14
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