The past few weeks have offered us a particularly difficult news cycle. A passenger plane was shot down in Ukraine. People continue to die in the Israel-Palestine conflict. And at home in America, children have crossed our borders alone and scared, longing for something less violent than the places they left.
I find myself wanting to do something, anything, to make it better. At this point I have been to all the relief websites. I know I can give money. If we knew Spanish, we could foster a child. And past that, I am basically out of options and stuck feeling both helpless and unhelpful.
This morning a childhood friend sent me a new music video from the always-amazing Reba McEntire. If you’ve never listened to this diva of modern country music, school thyself. She is something special. Apparently a few months ago, she asked her fans to help her out with a new song called “Pray for Peace.” And people everywhere did just that. Reba wrote about the process of this work coming together:
“I feel this song is a gift from God. I have never worked on a song as long as this one. It went from a bass drum, fiddle and singers to guest artist singing with me, adding more instruments and even a choir and a bagpipe! It’s an act of perseverance, prayer, hope, fellowship and mostly love.”
Sometimes the hardship of the world can feel so heavy that we can barely breathe. And yet, we are a praying people. It is the first, and sometimes the only, response we can offer. I have to be reminded of it again and again.
But I’ll let St. Reba tell her own truth:
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3 responses to “St. Reba Reminds Us to Pray”
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I love Reba, I love country music, and I love peace, so am I wrong to think this might be one of the most boring songs I’ve ever heard?
Kristen, you are right. It’s certainly no “Fancy.” I like it for its chant-like quality. I also thought it was neat to hear someone on the pop country genre singing about peace. Admittedly, Reba could sing the cereal box and I’d be into it.
It’s amazing how quickly we forget the most simple thing we can do–pray.