I've been meaning to tell you, my Hope tree is alive. After my last-ditch effort to rinse and dry the soil, I kept it in the winter garden and continued praying over it and laying hands on it. Now as I've explained before, there seems to be some evidence that this works, by some unexplained mechanism other than divine intervention. And as I had no other plan (having then not discovered the Liquid Gypsum), I kept at it.
For a while, I kept thinking I was seeing two growing tips on the trunk, but I figured it was just wishful thinking. And then last week, Faith suddenly put out 17 growing tips at the same time. Finally, last Saturday when I came in briefly from housesitting, I saw that indeed there were two branches beginning to grow from the trunk. And now there are three and they're very clearly alive.
So, I gave thanks to the Lord.
Hmmmmmm...
Interesting.
What does this mean, theologically?
Did prayer heal my tree, or is it a coincidence? If prayer was effective, is it because of an intrinsic property of prayer, or did God heal my tree?
I brought this up at my Monday night Bible study, and the assembly came to the conclusion that my problem isn't lack of faith or lack of prayer, but lack of belief that I, personally, am important to God. Which is to say, God did heal my tree in response to my prayers, to show me that he cares.
Hmmmmmm...
Well, that's an interesting theory. But if that's the case, then I hope God will give further proof of his love by getting me the GNWT job I'm applying for. And therein is the problem in a nutshell: if God proves his love by answering prayers, then I expect him to grant more prayers. Then you get into a recriminating mindset which is not godly.
Oh well, whatever, nevermind. The one thing I know for sure, is my Hope tree is alive. Thanks be to God.
For a while, I kept thinking I was seeing two growing tips on the trunk, but I figured it was just wishful thinking. And then last week, Faith suddenly put out 17 growing tips at the same time. Finally, last Saturday when I came in briefly from housesitting, I saw that indeed there were two branches beginning to grow from the trunk. And now there are three and they're very clearly alive.
So, I gave thanks to the Lord.
Hmmmmmm...
Interesting.
What does this mean, theologically?
Did prayer heal my tree, or is it a coincidence? If prayer was effective, is it because of an intrinsic property of prayer, or did God heal my tree?
I brought this up at my Monday night Bible study, and the assembly came to the conclusion that my problem isn't lack of faith or lack of prayer, but lack of belief that I, personally, am important to God. Which is to say, God did heal my tree in response to my prayers, to show me that he cares.
Hmmmmmm...
Well, that's an interesting theory. But if that's the case, then I hope God will give further proof of his love by getting me the GNWT job I'm applying for. And therein is the problem in a nutshell: if God proves his love by answering prayers, then I expect him to grant more prayers. Then you get into a recriminating mindset which is not godly.
Oh well, whatever, nevermind. The one thing I know for sure, is my Hope tree is alive. Thanks be to God.
2 comments:
I have a whole bunch of half thoughts on the answered prayers issue. I have to admit I struggle with the idea that God care about me. However - so glad your tree is alive!
Exactly. If God answers prayers, why is my lemon tree alive and not Nathan? I personally think it's not possible to reconcile the concept of a good, just god with answered prayers. I do think it is possible that prayer contributes to health through some biological mechanism independent of divine intervention. In fact, I never actually asked God to save my tree. I just laid hands on it and recited the Lord's prayer and Psalm 23 once or twice a day. Maybe it helped, but then, maybe not. Trees are incredibly resilient even without prayer.
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