Praying for Strangers by River Jordan

Author:River Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

T HE B US S TOP

He will regard the prayer of the destitute.

— PSALM 102:17

T HE HOLIDAYS HAVE BEEN LONG. I T SEEMS WE’VE BEEN ON the road forever. First for our big holiday family get-together and then followed closely by Aunt Kate’s funeral. In the middle of all of it, I’ve kept praying. Somehow I’ve managed to cross paths with a person in a gas station, a motel, a restaurant, who stood out to me in such a way that I knew a silent prayer might help the situation they were facing.

One of the best parts of our holiday has been having my mother-in-law visit. She’s more than my husband’s mother; she is also my friend, and having her with us is truly a joy. But now she has made up her mind to go home and is determined in her most stubborn way to ride the bus. “I can read,” she tells me, “and knit. And there’s always the most interesting people to watch.” Uh, yeah, I bet. I’m more than a little worried about her and thinking this is the last time we’ll give in and relent to her wishes.

We arrive at the bus station and it’s crowded. People seem to be tired before their journeys have even begun. I’m watching the crowd as we stand in line to pick up the ticket and shepherd Mother Nancy onto her correct bus.

I need a stranger, I’m thinking like some stalker moving through a sea of bodies, bags, and worn-down suitcases. I guess I am stalking, searching in my spirit, thinking, surely here— somebody. An older woman with dark hair comes up and speaks to us a few times, and to the lady in front of us. It’s gotta be her because if you could see her, you would understand why. Hands down, put my money on it, it’s her; she looks like she really, really needs prayer. But is that what I’m really doing here? Am I just supposed to pray for everyone that crosses my path who looks like they could use it? Well, maybe so in the big scheme of things, but this is all about that resolution and I’m still trying to figure it out. I could pray for practically every stranger who crosses my path who looks like he or she needs prayer and I’d have a very busy prayer life. This is different. I feel like I’m supposed to be sensitive to one significant, special person every day. Finding that one person is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Particularly at this moment in the Nashville bus station. But then two things happen at the same time.

A woman waiting at the other counter for her ticket pricks my heart. She doesn’t look particularly needy, but I just know she’s my stranger. So far, I have accepted this resolution thing, and I’ve been carrying it out. Silently and to myself. But right now I feel I am not only supposed to pray for her but to tell her that I am praying for her.

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