Lenten Meditation for Today : Keep the Faith

I engage in prayer time every day. I want to keep my faith strong. Lately, I feel like it is being greatly tested. In these times, I reach out to quotes from three of my heroes. These three heroes are connected to my birthday.

MY MOTHER – She was there (smile!). My mother was fond of sending cards and letters. She would often include a quote from scripture, and there was one quote she would send most often:

“Lord, help me to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

Having kept some of her correspondences, I turn to them, or recall this quote from her, to bolster my faith.

MAYA ANGELOU – We share a birthday. She is an inspirational author (among many other talents) and I have enjoyed reading her poetry. There is a quote of hers that I used in my school email closings:

“Be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud.”

This is in my power to do, and in doing for others, it, in turn, helps to fortify my faith.

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. – He died on my fourteenth birthday. Before that day, I knew of his ministry from speeches I saw on TV. It was later that I learned more of the deep faith he had to uplift us all and the hardships he endured. Of his many quotes, this is the one I find myself using as a mantra:

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

This can be a challenge. It is something I encourage myself to do because it is a love choice. I will, with God’s help.

I’d like to close with another quote I happened upon that I have on the desktop of my computer (often after reading the news!):

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. Hebrews 11:1

Keep the faith,

Pam F.