I want to share a number of experiences I had last year at the Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace. Since most of my friends reading this are Catholic, I just thought I might share this story first.
I was praying with someone last summer, who is a young Protestant minister. We were in his living room, and discussing divorce and re-marriage. I was arguing that re-marriage is wrong, and he was interpreting Scripture otherwise, especially in light of friends of his who were re-married, and whom he sees as model Christians.
We argued for some time, and I got kind of ticked--divorce is an issue I feel very strongly about. He had to go, but we prayed together before we parted. As we prayed, I closed my eyes, and I started to see a toucan. The toucan was standing, with its eyes closed, gently and sweetly playing a violin. I knew that the music it was playing was beautiful, even though I couldn't hear it.
I told my friend what I was seeing. (I didn't know what the toucan represented, but I had a sense that God was showing me this to gently rebuke me for being angry. So, I didn't want to share what I saw, but I felt that I needed to.)
We finished praying, and he started upstairs. But then he laughed, turned around and said, "Hey Joseph! 'One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight...' (Deuteronomy 32:30)"
So...Christians disagree about some things. Some important things. Sometimes, really important things. But if we can pray together, we can offer something beautiful to God--a harmony that results in overcoming the awkward tension of our divisions. This way, we can actually fight together, against our real enemy.
Not that our divisions are totally resolved that way. But, we'll be one heck of a lot closer. Anyway, if we have to argue, then fine, let's argue. But, maybe we could let the arguments that we have together be between the prayer meetings that we have together?
I was praying with someone last summer, who is a young Protestant minister. We were in his living room, and discussing divorce and re-marriage. I was arguing that re-marriage is wrong, and he was interpreting Scripture otherwise, especially in light of friends of his who were re-married, and whom he sees as model Christians.
We argued for some time, and I got kind of ticked--divorce is an issue I feel very strongly about. He had to go, but we prayed together before we parted. As we prayed, I closed my eyes, and I started to see a toucan. The toucan was standing, with its eyes closed, gently and sweetly playing a violin. I knew that the music it was playing was beautiful, even though I couldn't hear it.
I told my friend what I was seeing. (I didn't know what the toucan represented, but I had a sense that God was showing me this to gently rebuke me for being angry. So, I didn't want to share what I saw, but I felt that I needed to.)
We finished praying, and he started upstairs. But then he laughed, turned around and said, "Hey Joseph! 'One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight...' (Deuteronomy 32:30)"
(Random, I know, but I successfully googled "toucan playing violin".)
So...Christians disagree about some things. Some important things. Sometimes, really important things. But if we can pray together, we can offer something beautiful to God--a harmony that results in overcoming the awkward tension of our divisions. This way, we can actually fight together, against our real enemy.
Not that our divisions are totally resolved that way. But, we'll be one heck of a lot closer. Anyway, if we have to argue, then fine, let's argue. But, maybe we could let the arguments that we have together be between the prayer meetings that we have together?
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