Daily Prayer and Safety Gathering by Coal Miners
by Denny Heiberg
A dear friend and "fourth soil" disciple maker sent me this photo and told me that he had met an ex-coal miner from West Virginia earlier in the week who shared with him how he and his fellow miners would start each day with a "prayer and safety" meeting. In the course of their conversation this ex-miner told my friend how desperately he misses the close relational community of those miners.
As my friend pondered his encounter with this former miner and the spiritual implications of this daily gathering, he reflected,"It occurred to me that this group is aware of the potential perils they face, and they put on their daily armor. If only the everyday Joe understood that the spiritual stakes are just as high as he walks out his door every morning!"
As I was wrestling with my brother's reflection, I realized that over these last several months I have become complacent in my spiritual walk. My sensitivity to living in a world and culture of spiritual darkness has been dulled to the point of becoming conformed to the interests and values of this world as Paul points out in Romans 12:2. Jesus warned us of this reality in John 3:19, "God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil."
Can you imagine how different our days would be if we began each morning with our hearts intently focused and our eyes open to receive God's divine instructions before we walked out the door into a world of spiritual darkness? Jesus once told a group of people, ""I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12), Notice the key to having the light that leads to life - following Jesus, the One True Light! What actions could you take to move forward in walking in the light amidst a world of darkness?
As my friend pondered his encounter with this former miner and the spiritual implications of this daily gathering, he reflected,"It occurred to me that this group is aware of the potential perils they face, and they put on their daily armor. If only the everyday Joe understood that the spiritual stakes are just as high as he walks out his door every morning!"
As I was wrestling with my brother's reflection, I realized that over these last several months I have become complacent in my spiritual walk. My sensitivity to living in a world and culture of spiritual darkness has been dulled to the point of becoming conformed to the interests and values of this world as Paul points out in Romans 12:2. Jesus warned us of this reality in John 3:19, "God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil."
Can you imagine how different our days would be if we began each morning with our hearts intently focused and our eyes open to receive God's divine instructions before we walked out the door into a world of spiritual darkness? Jesus once told a group of people, ""I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12), Notice the key to having the light that leads to life - following Jesus, the One True Light! What actions could you take to move forward in walking in the light amidst a world of darkness?
