Psalm 50 Genesis 39:1–23 1 Corinthians 2:14–3:15 Mark 2:1–12
When I was in the hospital on bed rest trying to delay the arrival of my twins,
the chaplain at Georgetown Hospital would pay me a visit once a week. We
would chat, and, before she left, she would ask me if I wanted to pray. Each
time I declined. I couldn’t.
Praying out loud felt like admitting that something was going to go wrong.
I prayed in my head every day, multiple times, but I just couldn’t hear the
words “Save my babies, please” spoken out loud.
God heard my (silent) prayers, and the boys were delivered in their due
time. As I lay in my hospital room cradling my two perfect, tiny babies, the
chaplain paid me a final visit. As always, she asked me if I wanted to pray. I
said yes through a river of tears. It was now time to thank God for my gifts
out loud and with fervor.
As we prayed, I realized I had been trying not to fall in love with my little
guys in case it was God’s will that I not be their mother. I was preparing to
give them up. As we said that prayer of thanks, my heart opened, and all the
love that I had been suppressing came flooding out. I knew then and there
that I was blessed.
So it is in Lent. Whatever we give up, however we prepare, we are rewarded
powerfully when the love of Easter comes bursting forth.
–Geraldine Hayhurst