Please Pray

For Christine, the wife of a friend and former singing colleague of mine. She is having surgery tomorrow for a melanoma in her brain; she also suffers from multiple sclerosis. Her husband, in addition to being a marvelous artist, is a faith-filled man. He has started a blog about his wife's progress, and this is an excerpt from a recent post:

We were marveling at the kindness and generosity of all of our friends and family and how we realize that this great peace is directly associated with all of the prayers. We are also conscious of the fact that despite Christine’s suffering with these two difficult diseases that she has shouldered for many years, there is a plan in all of this that has God’s hand in it. It is often said that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Perhaps to us, these ways are mysterious. But He know exactly what He is doing.

So why is our adorable Christine dealing with all of this (and so gracefully, if you don’t already know)? We have surmised that everybody who is reading this blog, and the [others who have] sent correspondences are all playing a part in [an] unraveling plan for increased faith. People are expressing themselves freely on a public website about prayer. Impressive. I think that there are folks out there who will be persuaded to begin to reestablish that spiritual communication, whether it just begins with “Thanks, Lord” or becomes as elaborate as a rosary., just because of these public assertions that are visible and out there. That’s fortification right there. The love that has been expressed for Christine and our family has been awe-inspiring. This great pronouncement and outpouring of love and prayer has allowed us to relax and has set out minds at ease. It has also, most importantly, increased our faith. The point is that somewhere along the line in this complex process, faith is growing and flourishing.

May we all know the joy of seeing our sufferings work for others' good.