A Recovery Story
In college seminary, my roommate left the seminary to do alternative service working with at risk kids in the Bronx. A year or so later I went to visit him. Going there was a real eye opener for me. I remember walking down the streets of Harlem alone. I was the only white person in sight. It was just another reminder of how this Edina boy was totally out of his element.
I was ordained a few years later. After that I lost touch with my friend. But then just a few weeks ago another buddy from seminary days reconnected with my friend. He was living in an assisted living facility battling cancer. So, we went to visit him. I hadn’t seen him in years. As we sat there he shared a bit of his story.
After his stint doing alternative service, he fell into hard times. He knew he had hit bottom when he realized he was drinking himself to death. Call it loneliness. Whatever it was, he was miserable. His life was going nowhere. In the process he drifted from his faith.
But then the miracle happened. By a stroke of luck, he got himself into an AA recovery program. It saved his life. That was more than fifty years ago. He now lives grateful for the life that God has given him, even as he battles cancer.
In the Gospel passage for today Jesus tells the disciples a story about the necessity of praying always. But what is prayer? I was recently sitting in on a men’s Bible study when I candidly admitted that sometimes when I know what I want I just do what I can to get what I want.”
At that one of the guys in the group challenged me on that, “I can help you with that, Father.” “How?” “Get a wife!” I got it. “Wake up Father, when you’re married you don’t always get what you want.” Can I get an Amen from you married folks out there?
Back to my friend. After I heard his story, I asked him. “What has your work in recovery taught you about life?” “Two things”, he said, “One God is in charge. And two, I’m not.”
If that’s true, what does that teach us about prayer? In other words, if prayer is not just another way of manipulating God to get what I want what is it? I think of Jesus’ agony in the Garden. His prayer that night was about surrendering to God, not about being in charge of God.
The prayer of surrender, it’s the daily prayer of my friend. It gives him peace of mind in a battle with cancer that he may not win. That same prayer of surrender can sustain us even with the challenges that we all face. And so, the invitation, this week pray the prayer of surrender. It changed my friend’s life. Maybe it could do the same for us.