Are you more mature than an 8 year old? I'm not

I came across this article about a shark attack in NC and had to read it, as I do any time I see anything having to do with sharks. And since Shark Week will begin this Sunday I found it even more apropos. 

A little girl is attacked by a shark and deals with blood loss on the beach. But as she's laying there, completely aware that she will need medical attention, she remembers something equally important, probably passed down to her by her parents: 

"She said, 'Dad, can we say a prayer?'" Jordan Mangum told the station. "We said a prayer for her on the beach. Her faith and stoicism was a marvel to us."

How cool is that? As parents, as pastors, as mentors, if we can get across one thing when tragedy strikes, this would be it: pray.

Even though it would be foolish not to go to the emergency room, it would be likewise foolish not to pray. Emergency medicine, like any sort of medicine, is no sure thing. I've watched enough Shark Week's to know that shark attack victims do die on the beach, on the way to, or even in the hospital. The doctor alone is not enough. We're ultimately in God's hands, so it's foolish not to pray and thus  neglect either of these "life-lines."

Of course as I write this I feel convicted about foolishly not praying with (of course I prayed for) my dear friend who blew out his knee in a softball collision with 2nd base. With folks crowding around, and some pretending to actually know what they were doing when they clearly didn't, I foolishly let them do their "work" and carry him off the field. I did end up praying briefly with him while on the bench, but my heart was more tuned in to getting him to the doctor.

 

I'm definitely not more mature at some levels then this lovely 8 year old. Faith like a child is a beautiful thing.