a different kind of prayer

"heavenly Father, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

help us to remember that the pierced , tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really out to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together." (anonymous)

i use this prayer to remind me that things aren't always as they seem and/or that the world doesn't revolve around me. i really do try to live by the golden rule; treat others as you would want to be treated (matthew 7:12). but there are situations that come at me too fast and my first reaction isn't how i would want to be treated.

so my prayer is that i be able to look beyond the circumstances and to the heart of the person (or people) that i come in contact with. my prayer is to be more like Jesus - loving and compassionate. as a christian, it's important for me to treat others as Jesus would treat them. i have to remember that i might be the only Jesus someone else sees. i might be the only bible that someone reads.

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link of the day:
http://dna.imagini.net/friends/