Article February 19, 2001 Issue

Prayer in action

Sharon Jeffrey

Several years ago, a neighbor made some inappropriate and offensive remarks to me. Initially, I was so upset that I couldn't even drive past his house without reacting. I even asked my husband if we could move to a different neighborhood. He responded that I wasn't "loving [my] neighbor as [my]self." Well! How could I possibly do that now? Wasn't the damage already done?

But once I quieted down, I knew he was right, so I began to pray. I prayed to be able to see my neighbor as God did. I knew that God had never created a sensual predator. I needed to get a grip on myself first, and then the situation could be completely healed.

One day while baking, I simply reached out to God and asked Him to heal my thoughts about this neighbor. Almost immediately, I felt great compassion for him, and I could understand that the crudeness he had expressed was no more a part of him than it was a part of God. I suddenly wanted to send him some cookies. (We had not spoken since his comments some weeks earlier.) My husband took the cookies to him and came back with a sincere apology from him. From that moment on, all resentment and indignation were healed, and normal relations resumed.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Keep going—even when the going gets rough