“How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray.” (Pope John Paul II)
During a visit to an assisted living home in the Adirondacks, I noticed a bearded man with an amputated leg sitting in a wheel chair, looking out into the mountains. As I walked up to meet him, he stretched out his hand and warmly said, “Glad to meet you, Reverend.” I began by mentioning that my sister had been in a wheel chair with rheumatoid arthritis since she had been 3 years old and how much of an inspiration she had always been to me. He looked at me and said, “rheumatoid arthritis since the age of three…that’s a tough one.” When he told me that he was Christian but not Catholic, I responded by saying, “Christ is very close to you and loves you very much….he thinks of you as a great friend.” He looked at me in the eyes and said, “I’m not sure what I would do without Christ. I talk to him all the time and he gets me through the day. He is my friend, a good friend…”
