Trying to send good vibes and think positive thoughts? How about prayer? North Korea captive Laura Ling's friends on the wrong trail

Greetings today from a dreary drippy northwest day when I would prefer to see and smell cut hay drying in sun-kissed fields.

And if you have ever had the opportunity to compare taste-deprived commercially-grown California strawberries (they look great forever it seems - like souped up on botox) with fresh sweet succulent Oregon strawberries, you will understand why I am hoping for a last push of ripening weather before Sunday for our annual post-graduation outing.

For today I comment on the power of man's mind versus the power of God. And in immediate introspection I find that I also am being infected by our Oregon left-coast culture of "me not Thee." Did you notice in the paragraph above I wrote I am "hoping" for ripe berries. I know of no inherent "hoping" power to effect any result except self-inflicted anxiety. Knowing as I do that God is the God of details as well as the God of the largest picture, I should be praying for ripe berries instead of "hoping."

So what sparks today's blurb? I suppose you have heard of the recent spying convictions in North Korea of two American investigative reporters. I just read a few minutes ago in the Silicon Valley MercuryNews.com (http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12556506?source=most_viewed)
that friends of Laura Ling, one of the convicted journalists, are trying to help the situation in Korea by use of brain-waves from California. Ling's long-time friend Cheryll Marsh "is confident her friend of 20 years is coping with the ordeal. 'She is brave and courageous,' Marsh said. Still, 'having her thousands of miles away is just so heartbreaking. But we're all trying to send good vibes and think positive thoughts.'"

Is there any rational basis to suggest that "trying to send good vibes and think positive thoughts" will be causative in what comes down? I would say no. On the contrary, prayer to the omniscient omnipotent omnipresent and merciful Almighty God of Heaven and earth has been found effectual across centuries, across cultures, and across time zones. And if you, dear reader, are not aware of this reality then you are deprived of enlightenment. Find some good Christian books about real experiences of real people with real needs with real devotion to a very real God, and you will begin to scratch the surface of the great reality of God's willing merciful involvement in the minutiae of our lives if we will but welcome Him.

This is the great reality show that seems underappreciated in America today.

Here is what Jehovah God said to Solomon as he dedicated the temple in Jerusalem around 959 B.C.: "2 Chronicles 7:14 (NASB) "...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

The power we have is not in our minds. Our power is in our free will submission the the will and law of the God who does have the true power.

Respectfully submitted,

D.U.