I'm a Little Ashamed of Myself Today

I found myself in prayer today for several reasons. At first I prayed, as I do when we get bad storms here, for protection for myself and my friends and neighbors. This usually includes prayers for those who are disabled in some way and living alone. At 76, I know far too many of them these days. Later, I pray to thank the Lord for that blessing.

During these storms, I worry about power outages. Not so much for me - I still get around. But there are those who are dependent on electricity for medical devices - that's tricky.

Today, the storm hit my neighborhood, hard, between 5 and 6 p.m. - it was a hard driving rain, thundering on the awnings and roofs, coming in from the northwest. I did manage to get into the filthy, dirty, scuzzy car and ride around our streets, letting the Heavenly Car Wash do its magic. Then I came back to the driveway, parked, came in and said another prayer of thanks, for the free car wash.

At that point, I noticed the rain was beginning to subside. I could even see the sky clearing behind the storm. That's when I noticed the clock said 6 p.m. and that I hadn't even given a thought to pray for all those people driving home in that awful storm, during the evening commute. Out here, we get flooded intersections as a matter of course, and far too many accidents, when it rains like this - quick, heavy and strong.

Father, forgive me for not saying a quick prayer for all those headed home from their jobs this afternoon. My finite mind is not always trustworthy, but I trust your infinite wisdom and pray that, silly as it may sound, you let me make my prayer retroactive and that when I next see the news, there will not be any really bad accidents in it.