Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise (Jas 5:13).
On Heritage Day our family took advantage of Cape Nature’s “Free Access”; enjoying the ecological heritage of Kogelberg for free! Kogelberg, home to 1888 plant species is also a UNESCO[1] World Heritage site. God’s affirmation: “it was good” (Gen 1:4,10,12,18, 21,25,31) echoes in that beautiful place. James calls us to enjoy another beautiful but neglected heritage – Prayer as taught by The Psalms, the Church’s Prayer Book. In times of distress (“Listen to my words, LORD, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help”, Ps 5:1–2) and joy (“I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name”, Ps 9:2) the Psalms teach us how to pray. I recently read about a congregation who was asked “What do you want the church to do?”. As you can imagine there were many varied responses. Finally an elderly lady rose slowly to her feet and said: “I want the church to teach me how to pray”. Prayer reconnects us with God, ourselves, one another and, yes, even with the natural world. Oh that wise ‘elders’ (c.f. Jas 5:14) would rise up in DMC to leave a rich heritage of prayer.
God Bless, Sean
[1] United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization