Faith

Here’s a wonderful story a church friend, Ann, sent recently to me. It touched me a great deal on how much deeper our faith needs to be. Sometimes the complexities of life we experienced as adults make us forget that the way to know our Lord is to look upon him with simplicity. An abandonment of what we hope or perceive, and only a complete faith that he won’t let us down.

The fields were parched and brown from lack of rain and the crops lay wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched the sky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came. The ministers of the local churches called for an hour of prayer on the town square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring an object of faith for inspiration.

At high noon on the appointed Saturday the townspeople turned out en masse, filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands — holy books, crosses, rosaries.

When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. From the middle of the crowd one faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the others.

A small 9-year-old child had brought an umbrella.
Laverne W. Hall