Bending Angel

Prayer That Water Be Turned into Wine, the Miracle within Marriage – May 24, 2020

May 23, 2020 by Jack Emmott 1 Comment

In December of 1972 on the pier on a tributary of Lake Houston beside a gingerbread house on Moonshine Hill Road in Humble, Texas I asked Dorothy to marry me. The memory of that day is as vivid now as is captured in this photograph of us in our early 20s. The start of an adventure in marriage which began on May 20, 1972.

I have made many choices in my life. Some good. Some bad. But of those choices, asking her to marry me was the best one I ever made. That day we did not have much luck with fishing. Yet, I made the best catch of all. Dorothy.

There is no doubt that God brought us together. Nor any doubt that we were meant to be husband and wife for life, for love, forever.

Like many of you, when I was a teenager and a young college student, I yearned to be loved. But I was different. Because of my faith, I felt deep down that I was special and was worthy to be loved. However, I was afraid that I would never meet a girl who could see me as a future husband.

Whether disabled or not, most of us are uncomfortable with how we look. To tall. Too short. Too heavy. To thin. To fair or dark skinned. Too freckled. Hair too straight. Too curly. Then, there was the curse of pimples in high school! If only we could find a cave to crawl into and to come out of and look gorgeous or handsome. The object of true love’s desire.

Before I met Dorothy, I asked myself who could really be attracted to me. Scoliosis. Legs and shoulders of different lengths. Steel rods in my back. Orthopedic shoes. The scars on my hands, back, right-upper leg and both ankles. Unable to do so much for myself. So dependent. Someone to be more cared for than to be a caregiver.

Jesus’s first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana 2000 years ago. Beginning in 1972 Dorothy’s love has been a Holy miracle of biblical proportions for me. For all those limitations, differences, and weaknesses have been healed by God’s love for me through her.

God gave me many talents. But, the best part of me is Dorothy.

I may never be the President of the United States, the Governor of Texas, a billionaire like Warren Buffett, a professional athlete or win the Pulitzer Prize for writing a book or getting a Grammy for writing a song. But, in Dorothy I am the richest husband on Earth.

I love 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) so much so that it is on the cover of my book Prayerful Passages. The quote many of you know by heart is:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

This week I celebrated another wedding anniversary. Another dozen roses, yellow this year. I kissed my blushing bride. I hope you do the same to your spouse.

With Dorothy’s help as my conscience, as my typist in law school at the University of Texas, and as my paralegal for more than 40 years, I have now the best me I have ever been. The best family law attorney I can be in serving others in trouble marriages. In Dorothy and in my work with divorcing couples I am blessed to witness every day examples of what it takes to have a good marriage, to keep it strong and to love ever more deeply.

Today, God I pray that You lead others to find their true loves. That in the sacrament of marriage unconditional love for one another be found. That in that miraculous love all married persons are healed as I have been healed just as You transformed water into wine at a wedding long long ago at Cana in Galilee.

God, I pray that You help each of us recognize the angels You send our way just as You helped me at age 23 see Dorothy for what she was and who she is….an angel, a living messenger of Your love for me. Amen

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If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for COVID 19 Lessons Learned from my Iron Lung – May 17, 2020

May 17, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To see Jack read this prayer, please click here.

This is the picture of the kind of iron lung I was in each day for four years. Thankfully, my journey in the iron lung ended in 1992. My iron lung rolled out the front door of my family home in Emmottville nearly 30 years ago. But, the iron lung and my journey in it left behind lessons in the darkness which changed my life forever. As God has said in Isaiah 45:3, I will give you hidden treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, who calls you by your name.

I hope these lessons from my iron lung will help you at this time.

Lesson 1 – We can overcome fear and uncertainty by trusting in God – When Dr. Vallbona placed me in the iron lung in 1988 at TIRR, I was overcome with fear. I felt that if I got in the iron lung I would never get out. Likewise, there is a great deal of uncertainty and fear in the Pandemic. Will it ever end? What will it do to me, my family, my job, my relationships with friends, and my ability to pay the bills or keep my business going? In the midst of this COVID 19 mess you can pray to God, as I did every dark day in the iron lung, and ask that God be with you. We are all on a greater and more important journey in life with God. God has special plans for you which are far above what is going on in the depths of the Pandemic.

Lesson 2 – When carrying the burden is too much for you to bear, you can ask God to carry the load you cannot bear alone – When I could not breathe for myself, the iron lung breathed for me. Likewise, God’s strength supplanted my weakness until I could exit the iron lung. During this Pandemic, when you feel vulnerable and weak, you can pray to God to receive strength, the newness of life, and the zest for living

Lesson 3 – When looking for hope in the Pandemic, all you need to do is turn to God in prayer and you will find hope – Every day I searched for the light at the end of the metal tunnel I was in for 4 years. In this Pandemic wherever you are you can turn your eyes in prayer to see God’s face. Just like a sunflower instinctively turns to face the sun to receive what it needs to thrive and survive, in facing or turning to God in prayer, you will receive the hope you need. The things to live for. To look forward to.

Lesson 4 – Do not fight what is required to succeed in the Pandemic. Be flexible – With God’s help, I learned that I could not fight the process of my recovery in the iron lung. I had to yield to the process. If I fought the iron lung, I would be a part of the problem and not part of the solution to recovery. Choose to be the best part of the process of handling the Pandemic. In prayerfully submitting to my iron lung, the iron lung became an unexpected place of worship. My sanctuary. Its breath became my breath. Its skin became my skin. The iron lung had no purpose in life without me. I could not fulfill my purpose without it. Moving through the Pandemic is a process too. Rigidity and resistance only make things worse. With flexibility during the Pandemic, you will be much better on the other side of it, but only if you submit to and agree to do what is required to make the most of it.

Lesson 5 – The Pandemic can be a teacher and an invitation to learn important lessons – In the iron lung, I asked God to show me things I could take with me when I got out of it. God answered my prayers. During the Pandemic, you can each learn lessons in this dark time. Happiness and success may be measured by what you gain in the Pandemic and not by what you’ve lost. For me, I am the best me I’ve ever been. My full-time calling as a Collaborative Divorce and family law attorney has never been more rewarding, productive, and helpful to others. That is because of the lessons I learned during my time in the iron lung.

God, please help each of us, the world, our nation, and the communities in which we live emerge from the Pandemic as better reflections of Your love on Earth.

God, please help us to find the treasures You promised were hidden in dark times. Treasures that deepen our relationship with one another. Lessons that bring us ever closer to You. Lessons to exit the Pandemic with which enable us to serve You better. To be more able to love others more deeply and live life more richly than ever before.

God, time like mine in an iron lung or our time today in facing the Pandemic is too important in Your kingdom to waste. May we not fail to find the riches within us You promised were waiting there for us. Amen

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Prayer to My Mother, for Ice Cream and Sweet Things – May 10, 2020

May 10, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To hear Jack read this prayer, please click here.

God – In 1958 before a family dinner and sitting around a picnic table under the pine trees on a warm summer day, my sister, Carolyn, took this picture with her Brownie camera. This photograph was taken in black and white. No color was needed to make a vibrant memory for me. Or to recall the sweet taste of the cool and creamy dessert. Mother’s homemade vanilla ice cream.

I do not know what possessed my sister to take the photograph. Maybe the Brownie camera was new and she was eager to use it. But, just maybe my sister was struck by the almost Norman Rockwellian character of the scene of her parents and mine so much in love with and devoted to each other. The kind of moment a child can never get enough of. The absence of drama. Faces at peace with one another. Simplicity of the task at hand. Genuine and transparent to both the eye and the heart. Togetherness. The joy of the moment made. The anticipation of consuming the result of each other’s contribution to be shared with their children, with family. Love frozen in time. Indelible sweetness.

As a Master Credentialed Collaborative Divorce Attorney, Mediator, father and grandfather, I see every day that this moment in 1958 is a powerful example of what all Your children need to see, to follow, to learn from, to replicate in their marriages when they grow up and have their own kids.

Admittedly, the image in this photograph is blurred. Yet the image is seen by me with such clarity and vividness on this Mother’s Day I feel I could really reach out and touch Mom on the Earth even though she is with You now in Heaven. I see the image for what it was and for what it is in black and white. Love. Your love for us through her and her love for me and our family.

What happened in cranking the ice cream bucket handle, in taking turns to share the burden, to churn and transform the ingredients from a warm mixture of milk, cream, eggs, and vanilla into an unforgettable delight. Ice cream to savor in my mouth as long as possible before swallowing and taking another bite. My bowl of ice cream would too soon disappear. There at the picnic table on one beautiful day. Then, gone but not really gone. As with my mother with You in Heaven. Like the memory, the blessing which keeps on blessing. The image giving birth to this prayer.

Watching the churning and the turning of the handle on the ice cream bucket was important for sure. But, God, what Mother did before she posed for the picture with Dad was important too. Standing in the kitchen pouring the milk and cream into the bowl. Adding just the right amount of Adams Vanilla Extract. Folding in the eggs. Stirring the long wooden spoon with care. Pouring the raw mixture into the pot on the oven and warming it just enough but being careful not to burn the potential feast.

Pouring the warm mixture into the container. Setting the container in the bucket. Then, adding layer after alternating layer of ice and salt until the bucket was full. I so much wanted to sample the ice cream when the handle could not be turned anymore. But, Mom made me wait. She showed me that some things are worth waiting for. The ice cream must be even colder. The bucket must topped off with ice and salt and packed. The ice cream must be cured. Some things in life take time. Sweetness from labor and love must wait to bloom. To happen.

God, I thank You for my mother’s love and for her homemade vanilla ice cream. Her love which made our house a home.

God, that day I learned that the ice cream was worth waiting for. Mom was right. That day we shared a fabulous meal with Mom and Dad. All topped off with Mom’s homemade vanilla ice cream

God, please tell Mom Happy Mother’s Day for me.
Please thank her for her love which gave us all something sweet from You.
Each other.
A mom.
A dad.
A sister.
Four brothers.
Some things are indeed worth waiting for.
And, as I hold this old photograph in my hand,
And, as I recall the taste of homemade vanilla ice cream,
I am older than Mother and Dad were in this photograph.
Yet I am blessed to still be Your child
And a child of a mom like her,
A mom who showed her son
What it takes to live and to love
With beauty and sweetness and care.
For me to taste a little bit of Your Heaven on Earth
And the everlasting love Mom has with You now.

God, may all Your children eat something today, like my mother’s ice cream, to take them back to the past, to their own cherished memories their moms made possible for them. In this challenging time of social distancing and worry may the taste of memories of a mother’s love bring them comfort too. May that give them hope that sweet things will soon come pass with prayer and faith in You. Amen

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Prayer to Find Attitudes of Gratitude – April 26, 2020

April 26, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To hear Jack read his prayer, please click here.

God – I have a dear friend, Ann, who lives in Pensacola, Florida. One day she remarked to me that, “An attitude of gratitude is everything.” Likewise, often I have heard that a grateful heart is a happy heart. But, in life, in the living of it, and in love everyone struggles in feeling grateful and being thankful.

I was fortunate to be born happy, secure, and hopeful. But, others are not so lucky. Some of Your children are like Woody Allen, the actor. A trainer at a seminar I attended referred to Woody Allen as one who is “allergic to hope.” Often, I have to pray for and serve people who are like Woody Allen or Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. That is a hard place to be for them. Being with them is not a point of light either.

Frequently, in my collaborative divorce and family law practice, I see many husbands and wives who are having a tough time seeing or appreciating the blessings You have given them. Or, appreciating the good qualities of their divorcing spouse, or the loving acts their spouse has done during their marriage, or the nurturing abilities the other spouse has with respect to their children.

Sadly, today, turning on the television and watching the news is generally not a source of good things which uplift us, except for the last 5 minutes of some of the programs. Considering all of the social media which incessantly bombards us, it is very easy to become cynical. To be dubious of the goodness in others. To question the true motivations of others towards their fellow men and women. Cynicism has now given birth to myths as truths or conspiracy theories which seem to spread an even darker view of the humanity You created.

God, this is sad. Because each of us needs to recognize that the life You have given us is a blessing. With prayer, a treasure is waiting to be found in every dark time, whether it’s in divorce, the death of a loved one, illness, the Coronavirus Pandemic, losing a job, separation from a loved, or loss of financial security.

Unexpectedly, in the darkness of an Iron Lung in 1988 I found a treasure of thankfulness with You in prayer.

I had developed respiratory fatigue because of the late effects of polio, more commonly known as the post-polio syndrome. As Dr. Carlos Vallbona placed me in the Iron Lung at TIRR, I struggled to find anything good or to be thankful for. Frankly, after polio, being in the Iron Lung, felt to me like being twice cursed. In the Iron Lung I prayed to have You to show me something, anything to be thankful for. Later, in prayer, I felt grateful to have had an exceptional doctor to care for me. To have had a machine (one viewed earlier as a mechanical beast) to inflate my lungs without me having to expend any effort on my own. Just as I could always depend on You, I could always count on the Lung giving me my next breath.

God, as I prayed to You, I looked up into the mirror above my head. I saw a middle-aged man across the room from me. The man was laying on his back. He had had a tracheostomy and was dependent on a ventilator. God, I then thanked You for me not being completely paralyzed and on a ventilator like him. I asked the man what happened to him. He said that he had worked for a tree company. A tree had fallen on him and broken his back which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Then, to my surprise, he said, “I’ve been looking at you in the Iron Lung. I don’t know how you stand being in an Iron Lung all day. I could never live that way.” I was thankful not to be in his condition. Remarkably, he was thankful not to be in mine. The point is that in each of us that day we found something in our conditions to be thankful for and to thank You for, my God.

So, God, please help all Your children to pray to You. In praying to You may each of us find hope. Something to be grateful for. Something to give You thanks for. Something to be worth living for.

God, please help each one of us to look for the goodness in every one of us. Especially now, for so many of us are having to do so much more with so much less.

God, please help those of us who are skeptical and cynical. Help them to see the goodness in others first and not to first expect others to be their worst selves. If we are each good enough to be loved unconditionally by You, may we find it in our hearts to see the goodness in ourselves and the lives You made possible for us and for our salvation.

In seeing that sacred goodness in ourselves and others, then, perhaps we may give You our most humble thanks and praise. Bad will be transformed into good. Curses will become blessings. The divides between our views of the world and one another will be reconciled with love and thanksgiving.

God, please help us find attitudes of gratitude. Amen.

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Prayer for Teaching and Learning to Love at Home – April 19, 2020

April 18, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To hear Jack read his prayer, please click here.

God – Because of the Coronavirus Pandemic 1.5 billion children and 60 million teachers around the globe are not in schools. In America 30 million public school students are now in need of learning at home. Their parents who need to be earning a living outside the home are now learning to teach their children inside the home. Even if children have a parent who is a public school teacher, teaching at home is so very different and more challenging than in the classroom.

Polio became my stay-at-home order which required me to be home schooled from ages 7-11. Dorothy Carlton, a Pioneer in homebound teaching, was brought into my home by the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District to be my teacher. Mrs. Carlton’s visits to my home for those 5 years taught me many lessons in learning to share with others today.

First, Mrs. Carlton and my mother brought a desk from school to my home. The screened in porch became my classroom. But, at least I had a desk like all the other students had in public school. The important thing was not that I had the normal school desk. The important thing was that Mrs. Carlton and my mother made me a room or place in my home which was suitable for learning. This was the place in which to learn. It was safe. It was quiet. It was mine. So, God, please help all parents to find suitable places in their homes for their children to learn.

Second, Mrs. Carlton, put in place for me a daily and weekly schedule to be with her. When I was not with her, it was my responsibility to get my homework done. Her responsibility was to teach. My responsibility was to learn. Over time my mind, spirit, and body became in sync with this structured routine. Though difficult at first, over time it became more natural. My nature was to become a better student each day. So, God, please help all parents establish a consistent daily schedule for learning, including a time for play.

Third, although Mrs. Carlton had a clearly defined in-home classroom schedule, each day she made allowances for my personal and mental health. Like their parents, kids have good days and bad days as well. So, God, please help parents in their homes to have a set schedule. But, help parents to remember that having a set schedule is not as important as having, building, and maintaining a good relationship with their children. Please help them discern when flexibility is needed and how to avoid the kind of words and rigidity which cause harm. To their children’s hearts. To their children’s minds. To their children’s desperate need to have a loving relationship with their parents.

Fourth, God, every child is a precious gift from You. In every child there are treasures and talents to be found, nurtured, and developed. No parent or teacher should diminish the beautiful and sacred gifts within the children You have bestowed in them. I am reminded of Anita Wheatcroft, wife of the Episcopal priest, the Rev. Richard Wheatcroft of St. Francis Episcopal Church Houston. One of the gifts You gave her was creative writing. In that gift she was born left-handed in nature. During that time in history being left-handed was scorned and squelched when possible by parents and teachers. In her childhood Anita’s nanny was instructed to tie Anita’s left-hand behind her back forcing her to use her right hand all day. Anita overcame all of that as an adult and became a successful author of children’s books. Not every child is able to overcome the stronghold a parent or teacher can place on the flowering of a child’s inner gifts and talents. So, God, please help parents nurture their children’s nature and natural talents.

Fifth, in 2020, it seems like a poor reward for a teacher to give to a student. But, I cannot tell You, God, what it meant to me when Mrs. Carlton gave me those sticky Gold Stars to reward my achievements, even the small ones. Each time she placed a Gold Star on a satisfactory homework or test page, it said to me, “You are a good boy.” So, God please help parents to show their appreciation to their children when they succeed in tasks well done.

Sixth, my teacher, Mrs. Carlton, loved to teach. So I, as her student, loved to learn. Students, including children at home, do not learn from people they do not like, including their parents. So, God, so please help all parents display joy, zest, and love for learning to their children.

Seventh, God please help parents learn and practice patience in the teaching of their children. Please help parents who teach to schedule their own times for rest and relaxation. All work and no play is not good for children or for their parents.

Eighth, God, thankfully in parents educating their children at home, there is no separation of Church and State. That is because at home, the state of their relationship with You is most important and always worthy of celebration and observation. So, God, please encourage all parents who teach their children at home to schedule daily prayer and Scripture reading to be with You.

God, You are the best teacher for all Your children. May all parents lead, learn, and love by Your amazing Grace and perfect example. Please guide all parents in teaching and learning to love at home. In that way their children will learn to love and serve You. Amen.

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Jack’s Easter Prayer – That Life Begins with Death – April 12, 2020

April 12, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

If you would like to listen to Jack reading his prayer, please click here.

God – I love Easter like millions of Your children around the world. It rekindles in me so many warm and wonderful memories of my childhood.

On Easter mornings getting up early with my sister and brothers and rummaging around our home to find the eggs the Easter Bunny had left for us. Eating far too many jelly beans. Holding the little chicks and cuddly rabbits our parents gave us. Going to our church to worship with my family. I and my siblings wearing Easter white clothes our mother had made for us with her Singer sewing machine. After church, posing for family pictures. The tradition of sitting around the table, holding hands, saying grace and eating Mom’s tasty meals. The beautiful clothed table adorned with napkins, china, crystal, and silver. Attending the Emmottville family Easter Egg Hunt with my grandparents, 18 aunts and uncles and 45 first cousins.

God, however, all of this joy is set against what is most important to me and for all Christians around the globe. The death and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

How inconceivable it must have been on that dark day in Calvary for His mother, Mary, and all who witnessed His crucifixion to foresee that Your Son’s death was truly the beginning of His eternal life with You.

As human beings, don’t we think that life is linear? We are born. We live. We suffer. We get old and die. But, in You, I have learned that my spiritual life began in a death of sorts. That I, as all Your children, have crosses in life and love to bear just as I have borne the heavy cross of polio and paralysis.

Because of this blessed Easter day and the sacrifice of Your precious Son, Jesus Christ, the end of our Earthly lives is just the beginning of our Eternal life with You.

Likewise, we experience a kind of death in bearing our own crosses as with the Coronavirus Pandemic at this time—the end of normalcy, the relationships and personal health we have taken for granted, the ability to be with and care for those who need us. The end of a good night’s sleep. Being at peace and feeling secure. But, as a sort of Holy miracle aligned with Your Easter message to Your children, such trials and endings are all transformed into new beginnings. To be closer to You.

God, on this Easter day I thank You for Your grace and for Your sacrifice.

When I suffered polio and was paralyzed at age 6, I am certain my parents, just as Mary at the foot of her son’s Cross, felt that all their previous plans for my life had ended, had died. But in the light and love of Easter and in the glorious sunrise of hope You represent to the world, I have learned that my life and the living of it with You and in You did not end. Rather, it is when my life truly began. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for Those Isolated from Loved Ones – April 5, 2020

April 5, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To see a video of Jack Emmott reading his prayer, please click here.

God – To be alone can be as deadly as the Coronavirus itself. To be isolated from those you love inflicts as much damage as the virus itself.

God – When the NBC reporter Janis Mackey Frayer was reunited with her 6-year old son, after seven weeks covering the Coronavirus Pandemic and her subsequent 14-day period in quarantine, I remembered myself as a small boy at Hedgecroft Hospital.

I will never forget the terror of being left alone at age six when my mother and father walked out of my room. Nor the tears of joy when I returned home months later to their loving arms.

What I experienced on that first day of isolation is being repeated around the world when men, women, and children are isolated from those they love when they most need the comfort and healing touch to survive the Coronavirus.

On August 26, 1954 Mom sat silently and stroked my hair as I laid in her lap on the backseat of the Delta 88 automobile. Dad drove to the hospital and said not a word. He knew for certain the directions to the hospital. Yet, he had no idea where polio would take me or my life or impact our family.

Mom and Dad followed alongside the orderly who pushed me on a gurney into a large room with other patients in beds and in iron lungs. The nurse said that Mom and Dad could only remain for a few minutes. Then, they must leave.

I was placed in a baby crib with iron bars (as there were no other beds in the hospital for me). I had no TV to watch. I could not move anything below my neck. I had no strength to push the button to call a nurse. No phone to call home.

So, I did what every child would do at that stark moment of fear and loss of control. I quietly asked my Mom to please stay with me. Mom said the hospital rules did not allow that. Then, I repeatedly screamed for her to stay. With eyes full of tears, Mom turned and rushed out of the room. In disbelief Mom and Dad were gone.

God, at that moment, I felt that Mom and Dad had abandoned me when I needed them the most. But, even then, they had left something in the hospital room amidst the patients, doctors, and nurses I did not know. Prayer.

God, I thank You for the minister, Skarden Daubert, who visited me every day in the hospital. He placed a prayer book in my hands and said prayers with me. He is with You now. The gift of prayer from You, parents, and Rev. Daubert will remain with me until my last breath.

God, in prayer, with Your love please lessen the pain experienced by millions of Your children who are isolated from their loved ones. Not just those who suffer from the virus. But those whose lives and callings take them away from those they love. The first responders. The truckers. The nurses. The doctors. The respiratory therapists. The EMT’s. Our leaders and ministers of all faiths.

Please lift up the hearts of those who are not able to be at the bedside of those they love when their earthly lives end and their eternal lives begin with You and in You.

We thank You for the moments of heavenly bliss when others are reunited with loved ones just as reporter Janis Mackey Frayer is seen hugging her beloved little boy.

God, prayer was not a cure for my polio. Prayer may not cure the Coronavirus or end this Pandemic. It will heal what medicine cannot. Amen

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Prayer for Dr. Marcello Natali of Italy and All Other COVID 19 First Responders on Earth – March 29, 2020

March 30, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

This image shows health care workers in the coronavirus pandemic in Italy with cathedral in background. — Health care workers in Italy – Photo: Wall Street Journal

God – From 1942 until 1946 my Father was stationed in Italy. As an Army meteorologist, he cleared for flight the Air Force bombers and glider pilots to help the Free World defeat Germany and Hitler in WWII. Now, there is a much different world war going on in Italy and around the globe, a battle for survival lead by courageous doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, and leaders of all faiths.

Sadly, one such servant of Yours and of humanity, Dr. Marcello Natali, of Italy died of the Coronavirus in Milan. At the time of his death, he was quarantined and separated from his entire family, including his nurse-wife. He was just age 57. Dr. Natali will not receive a hero’s burial as funerals are prohibited by law because of Italy’s national lockdown.

As of March 19, 2020, Italy had over 2,629 health care workers who had contracted COVID-19. They and many others around the globe continued to help the sick despite non-existent or inadequate personal protective equipment and lack of testing. He might have survived if earlier he had not refused an intensive care bed needed by another patient.

God, please cover all first responders with Your armor of light to protect them from harm and to strengthen them spiritually and physically as they sacrifice their own safety in service to others.

In the darkness please help the Coronavirus victims and first responders to see and share Your love and light.

Please let them know that the Coronavirus is not an act of You, our God, but a force of nature, like the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918.

If a first responder or victim cries out to You and asks, “Lord, why did You do this to me?” please comfort them with the knowledge that it was not You who did harm. For You would never hurt a child You love. Rather, You were certainly their First Responder. You were there to witness their pain, to cry with them and dry their tears.

Please help everyone to see Your light and love which dwells in the darkness.

When this catastrophic war is won. When Your scientists develop a vaccine as with polio. When the last ventilator is silenced. When the last ICU bed is empty. When all fallen first responders and victims have received eternal rest. When all places of worship are open. When all student rolls are called daily by teachers in their classrooms. Our world, humanity and the lives we live will never be the same.

Thanks for being our never changing, ever-loving and ever-present Creator. Amen
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Prayer for the Beauty of Holy Hope – March 22, 2020

March 22, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

God – I am hunkered down in my home as are millions of Americans and people around Your beautiful world. So much beauty. So much darkness and fear invades our days. So much has changed. I am grateful that You have not. For we need You in our sleeping and our waking.

In prayer we ask that You help us do everything we can to protect those we love and who love us.

In prayer we ask that we do what is best for others and not be bound by inconvenience or by past routines and practices which do not work in this Pandemic.

Just as we connect with You remotely in prayer, help us make use of technology to stay connected with family, friends and the elderly.

Love is our Cross to bear. It is unimaginable that we must avoid contact with others to guard against bringing an invisible killer into our homes and places of work. Yet, that is what love does in this time of trial.

God, please help us to know that Good Friday in all its pain and horror did come to an end. That Easter Sunday surely followed. Death happened. The dark skies lifted. Eternal life emerged in the resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Let us take time in this passage of prayer and Pandemic to walk in our faith to see the beauty around us—the budding of the rose, the white flower of hope, the yellow jasmine and the green of Spring.

For there is beauty amidst this test of faith and perseverance.

So much beauty, Amen +

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Prayer for Good and Godly Things to Come from the Bad – The Polio Epidemic and the Coronavirus Pandemic – March 15, 2020

March 15, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

God — I am much older now. But, within me is the six-year old boy, pictured here, who contracted polio, went to the hospital and was quarantined in a hospital instead of going to first grade.

Then, like now with the Coronavirus Pandemic, there was no vaccine. Hospitals were overloaded with patients and unable to meet the demands for respirators and iron lungs. Water was tested in many homes. There was uncertainty as to how polio was transmitted. Pools were closed. Children were required to take long naps each afternoon. Children were not allowed to play together. And, if a child or adult contracted polio, some cases were mild and others ranged from death, to being in an iron lung forever, to being crippled, or in braces or being wheelchair bound for the rest of their lives.

God, today I thank You for the lessons we learned from over 300,000 American men, women and children getting polio and millions more around the globe who fell victim to or died from polio.

God, You are all about hope and transforming bad things into good and Godly things.

God, with polio, You taught us lessons to deal with this pandemic. Please help us to:

Pray for the cure to come;

Pray for us to provide for our families while remembering to care for and share with others in need;

Pray not to hoard essential goods but to take only what we need so that others in need can have their pantry shelves full;

Pray that those who are prevented from wrongfully price gouging others turn their acts of greed into acts of charity; for example the men who are stuck with 14,000 bottles of hand sanitizer can gift them to a charity to distribute to those who need them;

Pray for us to provide meals to children who no longer are in schools, as the school meals are often the only daily nourishment received by many of them;

Pray for us to call, Skype, FaceTime, send a card or letter to those who are shut in or separated from their family and friends, especially the elderly and those who have underlying health conditions.

God, I thank You that because of Your love in their leaders, corporate America is doing its part by letting corporate profits take a back seat in order to be compassionate to others. Many companies are paying workers who are not working. Companies are enabling workers to work remotely. And Apple allowing those who use the Apple Card to skip their March 2020 payments without accruing interest and without any adverse reporting to credit agencies.

God, I pray that You will help all of us throughout the world to be our best selves at the worst time in decades.

God, although we do not have all the answers, we always have You.

Right now, adequate supplies, a cure, and an effective treatment may be lacking, but there is always an abundance of Your presence and love for us. Amen

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