I have a friend I’ve mentioned before, but to protect the innocent I shall refrain from using her name and instead call her D.
D and I have always agreed on most things. We both truly believe it’s imperative one live in state of gratitude. Every day should begin and end with a big thank you to the big boss.
I make it a habit not to break this rule because the one day I do may be the one I need the whole grateful thing the most. Or perhaps the head honcho will take it upon himself to remind me about the gratitude thing in a very unpleasant way.
D and I are of like mind. She has always spent a great deal of time with the thank you part and added the please, please, please part as well for good measure.
Every time God took off his Bose headphones, which he invented to drown out all our bitching and moaning, D’s voice greeted him immediately with the D prayer specialty, please, please protect everyone I love.
When we were young the pleas happened a few times a day. Of course there were other things to do back then that took preference over the whole constant prayer thing.
We had diapers to change, children to raise, meals to prepare, laundry to do, phone calls to return and husbands to placate.
At that point God pretty much took the few exchanges in stride. I’m sure in a strange way he was comforted by the way she felt the need to communicate each day.
Fast forward and now our duties are far fewer. Our children now believe they are raising us, carry out is the thing and returning calls are now a great many texts instead.
As our tasks grew fewer, D’s pleas increased exponentially. Her Please God communications took on a more desperate tone.
Have you seen this world lately? We all spend a great deal more time now on the what-the-hell-is-going-on-here part of life.
Of course we always worried about our loved ones, but that was then. And this is now, and in no way are those two worlds even related.
When we were kids, life was the opposite of today. We didn’t even lock our doors. We stayed out playing until the street lights went on and we could walk to school or a friend’s house many blocks away on our own.
Now we not only lock our doors, we have them bolted, alarmed and a gun within reach. I’m surprised Gucci hasn’t come out with a line of GG Uzis at its store on Rodeo Drive.
No kid can play safely outside unless someone is watching on constant alert. In big cities like New York and LA a dog is no longer safe from kidnapping on the streets. I sure wouldn’t want to be a French bulldog!
So I understand well the desperation in D’s voice when she begs please, please, please watch over my children and grandchildren.
Although I am making light of this urge to beg the Big Guy to pay attention, I think we all know what happens when God turns the other way, for even a second.
At this age we have seen too much and cried too many tears when those pleas go unanswered and the worst happens. I lost a close cousin to street crime many, many years ago and it’s still always a part of my psyche.
We still beg and cajole for protection from the enormous amount of evil that has infected the world. Now more than ever before.
So is it possible to make any significant difference in what the future holds living in a state of gratitude?
After all many people live in other states. Places like the state of denial or entitlement or it-can’t- happen-to-me land.
Sadly the bad stuff happens to everyone. Some of course more than others. Yet even those who purport to be above such occurrences usually face the inevitable truth that they are indeed merely mortal like the rest of us.
I imagine in the end it’s all about coping. A protective mechanism that allows us to believe we have some sort of power over our destiny. That begging for help from someone or something greater than us may somehow stem the tide of evil.
Intellectually we know bad stuff happens whether or not we pray, beg or deny reality. Yet something inside still wants to believe we can enforce some sort of control over our existence and the lives of those we love.
So is it helping as the world grows more dangerous each minute?
In a strange way for some it is. The need to believe is strong and helps us get through a day. We cannot underestimate the power of positive thinking despite whatever proof has been offered otherwise.
Believing someone hears our pleas offers us a respite from the constant stress living in a harsh and frightening world inflicts. It allows us a partner to watch our back in case it is turned at an inopportune moment.
I guess we will never know for certain whether our prayers and pleas have deterred any evil from coming our way, but we must take some small modicum of comfort in believing they will.
I imagine as the world becomes even more scary the more God will need those Bose headphones. I’m always hoping he can still hear us through the Janis Joplin songs he’s blasting in his ears.
If we learned anything as we grew older, it’s that one needs to do what one can to get through the day. If it takes some gratitude and begging, I say go for it. Wasn’t it God or one of his spokespeople who said, “Ask and ye shall receive?”
NormaZager.com 