This idea came from a blogger I follow, Bob Hostetler.
When I saw this header on his prayer blog, I really thought he had gone too far. I’m all for Christian charity, but there is a limit, isn’t there?
Bob’s a good guy, a minister, a fine writer and someone who challenges my faith. Maybe he meant it as a joke. He’s got a good sense of humor. He turned me on to another website which is full of laughs, Jesusneedsnewpr.net. But no, this one he meant seriously.
I read more and started to get it. Compassion is probably the biggest goal or at least a benefit of my prayer life. If you pray for someone, you’ve got to care about them; if you care about someone, you end up praying for them. The sad thing that happens to media stars like Kim Kardashian, Snooki, Lindsay Lohan, et al., is that they stop being people. They’re punch lines. They’re punching bags. They’re objects of envy and then objects of scorn (a trajectory they travel with lightning speed).
Maybe it’s worth praying for them. It might be better for all of us. As my friend Debbie Macomber is quick to remind me, “Prayer changes us.” Kim and Snooki and Lindsay have plenty of misery for the tabloids and Tweeters to wallow in. Don’t they deserve some compassion too?
I’m trying it. There are others at the top of my prayer list, cases of cancer, job loss, financial turmoil, marriage trouble, depression, despair. But who’s to say who is suffering more, the friends I always pray for or Kim and Snooki and Lindsay? Aren’t they all deserving of God’s love and care?
Thanks, Bob. I hope by the next time I blog I’ll be more compassionate. Check back with me after I’ve read the latest in the National Enquirer.
