Prayer flags

Just this past week, I was running through a breathtaking sanctuary of trees in the park, thinking, absorbing the incredible beauty of creation, and praying as I often do on a run.  There is nothing like going on a run to stir up the deepest parts of my heart, to bring needs of others to the surface, to listen and respond.

Our country right now is in a mess -- the not-going-away-anytime-soon pandemic, unrest, protests, and oh, an election that seems like a made-for-tv movie. 

We have complained.  We have grumbled. We have been dismayed. We have jested. We have turned away when the partisan voices continued to crescendo. We have been invaded by political advertising, texts, fake robotic phone calls, accusations, and truths that have been tweaked into fictions -- or have fictions been tweaked into truths?

But have we prayed?  

Praying not for certain issues or successes or candidates of our own leanings, but pray to God?  To seek Him and ask not just for favor, but His mercy for our country?  For His way, for His flourishing, for how to navigate these treacherous waters, and how to love our neighbors, strangers, and even foes?  We are citizens of this country, but also "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." (Ephesians 2. 19)  And that calls us to a different place, responding to God knocking on our screen doors, drawing our passion, compassion and imagination to Him.

I know that I have complained a lot more than I have prayed. 

In eastern cultures, prayer flags are strung at the highest elevations to catch the attention of God.  But as I was running through a park campground, I saw a banner of a different sort fluttering amidst the trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone had strung them in the trees as a decoration, but as I ran past, I thought about them as prayer flags, not about catching God's attention, but mine, a visual reminder for me not to complain or grumble, but to pray.   Not just praying about the outcome, but the journey forth. Not about who wins and loses, but praying for our leaders, whoever they may be. And how we can be faithful to Him in our everyday lives, even as He is faithful. 

What does Scripture say about times like these?  Not how to vote, but how to live differently in our culture.

Build houses and live in them,

plant gardens and eat their produce...

Seek the welfare of the city

where I have sent you into exile,

and pray to the LORD on its behalf,

for in its welfare 

        you will find your welfare. 

                            Jeremiah 29. 5, 7

Most of us are not running for office, but what are we doing to seek the welfare of this city where we live, to seek goodness for the people God has placed in our lives, to be a faithful presence, even in the midst of chaos and a mess?  As author Steven Garber suggests in his book Visions of Vocation, "I can't do everything, but I can do something."  There are no small kindnesses, no insignificant details of grace.  What are we doing for the flourishing of others today? Are we willing to rebuild, restore, and stand in the breaches, of which we are surrounded? 

And so, I am reminded in these last few days before the election to pray.   And to ponder where God has strategically placed me today, what He has placed before me and on my heart, to love Him and love others, and how to be faithful to Him.

Pray continually.

Live faithfully.

Love well.

Practice grace over and over.