Listening to NPR on the radio this morning, just after dropping the boys off at school, I heard the very last part of an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Now 78, he has been an advocate for human rights, Nobel Prize winner, and chair of South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission, and has seen and experienced injustice.
As part of his experience on the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, he heard testimony after testimony of atrocities too horrible to mention here today. When asked if this shook his faith, he replied, “Perhaps if one had listened only to the atrocities…but we were constantly being bowled over by the extent to which people were ready and willing to forgive.”
When asked about his prayer life, the Archbishop said, “I am learning to shut up more in the presence of God . . . Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire,” he says. “You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.”
So often we make prayer into a chore, like God wouldn’t know what to do if we did not bring Him a “to-do” list. But what if we realized it really IS like sitting by a warming fire? How often then would we find ourselves there?
It’s that time by the fire that gives us hope, and the strength to live with impact. This is the place where God shares His secrets and confirms His love.
Make time to sit by the Fire today.
