Like most people, I have been listening to the news about the shooting in California and taking in all the personal comments that have followed. One particular magazine cover I saw read, “God Isn’t Fixing This”. The article itself was berating particular presidential candidates for sending prayers to the victims and families but not taking any action towards stopping the violence. In this case it was promoting gun control. Of course, there were many arguments that followed by both the pro and con group. I thought a lot about the statement. What about me? I like to think of myself as a prayerful person. But is there something more I can and/or should be doing? I am just an ordinary person trying to get through my own set of events each day. I was happy that today I was able to attend Mass. The priest helped to put things in prospective for me. He said that we can all complain about a certain group of people or attack another’s ideology, but the problems run much deeper than these. And as a society, we seem to be doing our best to keep God out of it. So we are ending up in the classic battle of good vs. evil. What good do our prayers do? They don’t change God – he is unchanging. We can’t talk Him into doing what we want. But if we will cooperate, they can change who we are. We can allow God to give us the courage, wisdom, and faith to overcome our fears and the obstacles we face. This looks different for each individual and can change over time. But each one of us can always do more. For me, for now, that means being more committed to prayer, to speaking to God and listening to Him, and to try to be a positive, loving influence on those around me. At this point in my life I may not be able to change laws or rally for a specific cause, but prayer is the thing I can do. And I have faith that it does make a difference. I also have faith that God and good will reign in the end.

I Found God today in prayer.