A Child’s Prayer

While walking with my young cousin the other day, we came upon a dead bird. It didn’t look like it had been dead very long. In fact when a breeze gently moved its feathers, it almost looked as if it was going to take wings and fly off.

But while I merely glanced at it and didn’t give it a whole lot of thought, my young cousin stopped and stared at it. At first I thought she was bothered by looking at it because it was dead, so I tried to steer her around it so we could go on our way. I told her it was dead and couldn’t hurt her.

But it wasn’t the appearance of the dead bird that bothered her, it was simply the fact that he was dead that moved her young heart.

She asked if we could pray for it, and remembering my own youthful eulogies for birds and other dead animals my siblings and I buried in our back yard, I was prepared to say a few words in honor of the dearly departed.

But again my young cousin surprised me, and in the process she changed my heart.

“Dear Lord, ” she began, “bless this poor bird who got so dead. Let him have a place in your heaven where he won’t be dead no more. He’s so dead Lord and he needs you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”

Not a long prayer, but a heartfelt one nonetheless. And in that short prayer, this young child taught my older heart something of the utmost importance.

We should never be so caught up in our own moments that we dismiss someone else’s needs or dismiss their situation as though it was beyond hope. Regardless of who they are or what they look like to us, our hearts should always be moved to help them, even if all we have to offer is a heartfelt prayer.

If this young child could pray for a dead bird, how much more could we do for those who are yet alive and in need of someone to pray for them. If God hears a child’s prayer for a dead bird does He not hear our prayers for one another? If a young child’s heart can be moved to turn to God on someone else’s behalf, shouldn’t we all have that same attitude?

Prayer not only changes things, it changes people. That bird was still dead when we walked away, her prayer hadn’t changed that, but my heart had come alive by the sincerity of a child’s prayer. And I realized that our prayers aren’t always going to change our situations, but they do change us.

From her lips, to God’s ears, to my heart = A blessing.

Good People

Sometimes its the small insignificant moments that lead us to our greatest moments of enlightment. You know, those “light bulb” moments where the light within our mind suddenly turns on and we experience some great revelation and gain understanding about something that only moments before we had been in darkness about.

Well while listening to my five year old cousin’s account of all the bad kids in her kindergarten class, I had one such moment of my own.

She was explaining to me that she always listens to her teacher and does everything that her teacher tells her to do. Good kids she said, mind their teacher and don’t do bad things in the classroom. She of course was among the good kids because she never acted bad in class.

But the bad kids? They only listened to the teacher sometimes, and they did things the way they wanted to do them, not the way the teacher said to do them. They were not good people, they were bad.  Or at least in her eyes.

I wonder what she would have said if she had’ve heard me yelling at the dog this morning.

While trying to fill her food dish, Libby, my high strung terrier-mix became so excited that she knocked over her water dish sending water in every direction. Including the direction I was standing.

I was not a happy camper.

And after I yelled at her and sent her seeking a yell-free zone under the kitchen table, neither was she. But after a few soft spoken words and the sound of her food hitting her dish, she was convinced that I was a good person again and came out for her breakfast and gave me a lick that said all was forgiven.

But it caused me to pause for a moment and ask the question: What makes a person good?

Are we good because we do good things and good deeds for others? Are we good because we follow rules and adhere to the laws? Are we good because we never get angry or say hurtful things to others? Are we good because thats how others see us or how we see ourselves? Are we good just when we feel good inside?

What makes us good?

I’ve often heard people say “I know I’m a good person.” I’ve probably said this a time or two of myself. And I’ve also heard others say “She/He is good people”, when refering to certain people. But as I pondered this question, I realized some truths about being good that kind of suprised me.

The truth is, being good isn’t just about the things we do or say, especially just because someone else is watching. Sometimes being “good” is an image, not an indication of true character.

The truth is, being good isn’t just about saying or doing all the right things. The mouth can say a lot of things that the heart may know nothing about.

The truth is, being good isn’t just about saying happy things or never having a wrong word with or for someone else. Being good doesn’t mean we don’t get angry.

The truth is, that when we do chance to make a mistake  and do a “bad” thing, that doesn’t make us a bad person. Good people can still make bad mistakes that carry bad consequences.

So what makes us good?

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5 KJV)

Our goodness isn’t in our “hands”, its in our hearts.

It’s the goodness of the One who lives and abides within us that enables the goodness of our hearts to spill over into our lives.