THE SADDEST PRAYER I HAVE EVER HEARD
Charles W. Salmon

She was old and very ill and the look of pain was in her eyes as I approached her bedside. I introduced myself as the hospital Chaplain and she shared with me what must have been the greater part of her agony. She told me of her prayer and the pathos of it has never been forgotten.

She said, “I told them we are all connected together but they don’t believe me, so I have asked God to cut us apart.”

Even in her pain and confusion she had noticed that, as death approached, others had withdrawn from her. The visits of doctors and nurses became briefer and less friendly. Hospital volunteers no longer came to offer magazines, candy bars, and conversation. Helpless relatives, who, “Didn’t know what to say,” no longer tried. Perhaps she had protested this at first and pleaded for human companionship, but eventually she gave up and now faced death in the cold grip of utter loneliness. Her final resignation was expressed in her petition to God to “cut us apart.”

She accepted my offer to pray for her but I knew it was merely a courtesy she extended to me, for I was among those “cut apart” from her and it was too late. She had made peace with God and severed her ties with everyone else. Quietly, I prayed for her and for all the lonely people like her. In the morning she was gone. I soon forgot her name but occasionally I am reminded of her pathetic prayer and the sadness it caused me to feel. Her greatest agony was not caused by the pain and fever that racked her body and muddled her mind. It was the result of the failure of others to relate to her in any supportive way.

The lesson is clear. We all need each other! She was right in her assumption that we are all “connected together.” Isn’t that about what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”? John 15:5 (NIV)

Using a different metaphor, Paul repeats this same truth in Romans 12:4,5; “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and those members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

That’s why it is such a disaster when a brother or sister separates himself from the family of God or refuses to be concerned about the needs of others who might be helped. The Church offers great resources for spiritual healing and growth for those who are willing to give themselves in the service of others.

You need me and I need you. We both need God. Let’s not allow anyone to “cut us apart.”—2110 Browon St., Houston, TX 77034