{"id":1521,"date":"2015-01-24T05:25:38","date_gmt":"2015-01-24T05:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1521"},"modified":"2015-01-21T23:33:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T23:33:12","slug":"a-praying-spirit-we-are-aware-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-we-are-aware-of-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"A Praying Spirit: We Are (Aware of) the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of graur codrin\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many chronic illnesses impose restrictions on our ability to move about freely in the world “at large.” Whether because of mobility issues, sight or hearing problems, or, as in my case, immunosuppressive drugs and their effect on the propensity to get sick, sometimes we just have to “stay put.”<\/p>\n

But, that doesn’t mean we’re not aware, nor does it mean that we should crawl into our proverbial hole and not care about the world outside.<\/p>\n

I like to use my “inside” time to learn, reflect, and pray about things happening in distant places – even as distant as across the globe. I like to pray for people I don’t know, remembering them as “those who are suffering” or “those who are oppressed.” It doesn’t matter if I’ve never met them. I pray for them anyway. I also pray especially for others like myself who cannot venture out and who instead are hampered by physical or emotional constraints. How I understand! How I pray!<\/p>\n

Praying for others, especially if I’m feeling left out of the enjoyable things outside my door, helps me shift the focus off of myself and what I cannot do to others who need more attention and intercession.<\/p>\n

In prayer, we talk with God. In praying for others, we are carrying out an active, vibrant ministry, a calling, that transcends any health challenges that keep us from leaving our home base.<\/p>\n

How amazing is that!<\/p>\n

Joy and peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many chronic illnesses impose restrictions on our ability to move about freely in the world “at large.” Whether because of mobility issues, sight or hearing problems, or, as in my case, immunosuppressive drugs and their effect on the propensity to get sick, sometimes we just have to “stay put.” But, that doesn’t mean we’re not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1272,3,43,1236,95,1246],"tags":[1238,1466,97,1465],"class_list":["post-1521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-praying-spirit-prayer-2","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","category-uplifting","tag-a-praying-spirit","tag-chronic-illness-and-prayer","tag-prayers-2","tag-prayers-for-others"],"yoast_head":"\nA Praying Spirit: We Are (Aware of) the World - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-we-are-aware-of-the-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Praying Spirit: We Are (Aware of) the World - 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1522,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521\/revisions\/1522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}