(This article from the Epoch Times was published April 1, 2024, but I wrote the prayer.)
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 AMP)
In the movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” Frodo finds himself at the end of his rope, declaring himself too battered and exhausted to continue his quest. His companion, Sam Gamgee, offers encouragement by reminding him of the old tales, “the ones full of darkness and danger,” and how “folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding onto something.” When Frodo asks, “What are we holding onto, Sam?” the wise and courageous Sam replies, “That there’s some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”
…Lately, we Americans and, I suspect, many people from around the globe, are struggling to see good in the world and things worth fighting for. Two men I spoke with recently, both on the political right, believe our country has reached a point of no return and that the American experiment is at an end. An October 2022 Harris Poll, commissioned by the American Psychological Association, mirrors some of their despair, finding that Americans are extremely unhappy with their political leadership, deeply pessimistic about the future, concerned about crime and violence, pinched by inflation, and stressed in their daily lives. The headlines of 2024 offer little reassurance that things have changed for the better.
Near the end of this report, the APA includes a section on taking action during times of uncertainty with some helpful advice, like “Take control where you can” and “Don’t look for a rescuer.” The gist of this counsel is to build resilience and to avoid feeling powerless in whatever trials come our way.
While these measures can be stout shields against the hammer blows of the headlines and daily life, the most vital element is missing: our sense of mission. Why do battle in the first place? What makes all that sweat, stress, and strain worthwhile?
In a scene from “Cinderella Man,” boxer James Braddock has a run of bad luck during the Great Depression and struggles to put food on the table for his family. When Braddock’s luck turns and he finds himself about to fight in a heavyweight championship, a reporter asks him, “How do you explain your comeback?” Braddock lists several reasons, pauses, and adds, “And this time around, I know what I’m fighting for.” The reporter says, “Oh, yeah. What’s that, Jimmy?” to which Braddock responds: “Milk.”
That’s a code word for his hungry children. He has something worth fighting for.
Likewise, a friend of mine, a man in his mid-30s, manages a construction crew from dawn to dusk. He knows why he’s busting himself five and six days a week: to provide for his wife and four little ones, with one more child on the way. That’s his fight, that’s his world, and I see the good in it every time they invite me to supper.
This man and millions of other Americans don’t regard themselves as particularly noble or heroic. When they think of their tiny corner of the world and their place in it, most of them at best might answer with the description Shakespeare’s Henry V gives to Montjoy, the French herald at the Battle of Agincourt:
We are but warriors for the working-day; / Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch’d / With rainy marching in the painful field;
The harried office manager who’s at his desk 60 hours a week working to keep his company alive for his employees and the sleep-deprived mother who gives her all for her children are both warriors in a painful field. Like so many, they sink exhausted into bed at night, knowing that tomorrow only brings more of the same.
But though they may not see it, by their daily combat, these foot soldiers on life’s battlefields underscore and affirm Sam Gamgee’s words: that there’s good in the world, and that it’s worth fighting for.*
God,
You are our dwelling place, our rock, our strong shield, our redeemer, our fortress in the battle and the storm. You are the One who has created Beauty, Truth, and Goodness and invites us to seek and experience them. Thank you for your faithfulness to all generations. Thank you for giving us good work to do and the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual strength to do it. Thank you for the wisdom you give to people in businesses and to people who work to provide for their families; pour out your wisdom and discernment upon them so they may know the best ways to work. Give them all abundance and sufficiency so that they can not only support their families and employees, but can give generously to increase your Kingdom in this world. Help us not become weary or discouraged, but persevere in our pursuit of godliness, righteousness, and good things. Strengthen us, Lord Jesus, to trust you for peace, well-being and not for disaster, and a future and a hope, we ask in your name, AMEN.
God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity. As it is written and forever remains written, “He [the benevolent and generous person] scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever!” Now He who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing [that is, your resources] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [which shows itself in active goodness, kindness, and love]. You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, and this [generosity, administered] through us is producing thanksgiving to God [from those who benefit]. (2 Corinthians 9:8-11 AMP)
The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in. (Galatians 6:8-9 AMP)
She considers a field before she buys or accepts it [expanding her business prudently];
With her profits she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.
She equips herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task]
And makes her arms strong.
She sees that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out, but it burns continually through the night [she is prepared for whatever lies ahead].
Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure;
And she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared]. (Proverbs 31:16-18, 25 AMP)
For how great is God’s goodness and how great is His beauty! And how great [He will make Israel’s] goodliness and [Israel’s] beauty!
Grain and new wine will make the young men and virgins flourish. (Zechariah 9:17 AMP)
“Here’s a Glass Raised to Our Warriors of the Working-Day” by Jeff Minick in The Epoch Times, 4-1-24