Simple Wisdom

At our early Sunday morning prayer time, a lady prayed this:
"Lord, thank you for giving me the ability, when I fall down, to crawl until I can get up again."

That may sound like a highly spiritual prayer by someone trying to cope with the trials of life, a fluffy, metaphorical prayer. However, it was prayed by a 98-year-old woman, and she meant it quite literally. She falls in her home, alone. And she crawls to a place where she can put her legs down on a step, get her legs under her again, and stand up. And she's so thankful ... for crawling.

When she prayed this, it took me aback. When one is young and proud, one shouts at God, "Why did you let me fall!?" Or worse, "How dare you let me fall!" Even when one is older, moderately humbled by troubles, one sighs after a fall, grumbles about falling, and rubs one's sore legs until one grunts to standing again. But one is not thankful, not thankful for the fall. And one is never thankful for crawling. The desired position is always to be standing on one's own two legs, upright.

Only a humble person can thank God for the ability to crawl. Crawl is humiliating, akin to groveling. Crawling is pitiful. Praise God for a woman who is thankful she can crawl! She didn't complain about falling. She had no complaint at all, only thanks.

Isn't that amazing?