To the World of 2024,
2015 is the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. Several years ago, my wife and I watched a 9-part documentary by Ken Burns on this painful period in American history. One thing that made the soldiers and their families come alive for me, were the many letters that had survived from that period to our own.
The letters between the battlefront and the home described a life very different from my own. The seriousness of life was not how I grew up in a middle class American family. Yet the personal letters made it clear that families and soldiers knew how fragile life was during those years in America.
At the end of 2014, a friend of mine sent me a copy of a prayer he had written. While it may sound out of place for my America at the close of 2014 with the Dow breaking 18,000 for the first time ever and so much emphasis on our comforts today, his prayer touched my own heart as I pondered headlines that continue pouring in week after week, pointing to a time where deeper thoughts across my nation and world of a more serious nature could become more common.
O Lord My God, Answer Me
Lord I cry out to You. Hear me O Lord, Unto You O Lord I call. O Lord hear my prayer, receive my voice with mercy. When I call upon You O Lord, Hear me.
Let my prayer arise, as incense in Your sight. Let the lifting of my hands be like an evening sacrifice. O hear me, Lord, hear me O my Lord.
Dark, dismal thoughts fill my days, and confounding fears dwell deep within my troubled heart.
Answer me, O LORD, answer me, give heed to the voice of my supplications!
My soul is like withering grass, in misery,my minutes pass, my days are consumed like smoke.
Answer me, O LORD, hast Thou not built a throne of grace to hear when sinners cry?
Sharp reproaches wound my ears, and refuse to give my spirit rest.
Answer me, For You are patient, generous in mercy, rich in compassion, loving and just.
My cup is bitter and full of tears, my daily bread unpleasant to my taste.
Answer me, I know You won’t delay the appointed hour of your mercy and grace.
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.
Answer me when I call. You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me once more and hear my prayer.
In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You alone, For only You will hear me.
Answer me when I call, save your servant who trusts only in you.
Preserve me, save me, Be gracious to me, O Lord,
Answer me, Be abundant in loving kindness when l call upon You.
You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, I lift up my soul.
Answer me, And I will glorify Your name forever.
You alone O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Answer me, For You are patient, generous in mercy, rich in compassion, loving and just.
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me. I wait and hope only in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God. God knows his own and hears their cry and fills their tongues with praise. Holy, Mighty, Immortal God have mercy on me.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now and forever.
Amen
A Mind with Much to Ponder