Sunday, March 10, 2002
Sunday, March 10, 2002
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
"She prayed because the people needed praying for," says Dr. Coles. Her parents and her
minister had taught her the prayer she prayed. It went like this: "Please God, try to forgive
them, because they don't know what they are doing." Ruby explained it to Coles like this,
"Well, you see, when Jesus had that mob in front of him, that's what he said...."
Who do you need to pray for?
(Romans
12.9
NRSV)
Do you remember the story of Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old black child who serenely faced
an angry, vengeful mob day after day to integrate the New Orleans public school in 1961? On
one occasion, Ruby, surrounded by federal marshals, stopped and faced the mob, silently
opening and closing her mouth in their direction for a full minute. Through several subsequent
interviews with Ruby, as well as through conversations with her teachers and parents, Dr.
Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist and social psychologist, discovered that Ruby had stopped
to pray for the people in that mob. She had not had time to pray for them that morning before
she left for school. Coles was dumbfounded, and he discovered what Ruby said in her prayer
and why she prayed.
Loving God, remind me often to pray for those who hate. Amen.
 Click here to Vote for this site! |
 Click here to Subscribe! |
|---|