Prayer is a Path to Peace
For me, as for many people, prayer is as much an act of listening as it is of speaking. Often when I am frustrated, angry, or in despair, I find myself closing my eyes, bowing my head, and presenting a concern and question before God. While the answer rarely comes with any immediacy, I have been surprised at how the silence that follows has yielded understanding and a sense of peace.
In the military lives of service members, particularly during deployments, our missions dictate our individual lives in ways that seem beyond our control. This can also be true in civilian life, and the resulting helplessness can lead to frustration and sadness. I am not someone who deals with sudden changes easily, despite the “hurry up (and wait)” mentality of the Army. But to try to manage, I’ve often found myself often asking, simply, “why?” in the darkest moments of my life. Often, an answer has come with clarity and has humbled me to realize that while my personal struggles may seem important, that there are sometimes reasons beyond my comprehension for the events in my life. Sometimes after one of these moments of prayer, I have found myself in a position to help improve the quality of life for a local family, or to be there for a wounded soldier. I can’t hope to control everything in my life, or to understand the nature of human suffering and healing. But personally, prayer has answered many of the questions I’ve sought, even if it was in unexpected ways, or ways I may never completely understand.