Prayer Cards: Orton Parish Church

I visited Orton Parish Church last month, a lovely old building inside which is a wooden cross. Upon this visitors and parishioners might place their prayer requests. A similar object was once briefly employed at Salem, but I found it expedient to remove it. Some requests were charmingly naïve:

‘I prey (sic) for the wether (sic) to get better for our 7 day holiday’.

Fair enough, though if one seeks sunshine and blue skies, Cumbria is one of the last places to which I’d repair. Most were fairly banal, unworthy of comment here, but important to those that prayed them. Others were too personal to share. One was addressed to dead relatives, not God, which grated my protestant spirit. Another, however, really caught my attention, and filled me with compassion:

‘I pray I will find my inner peace to love again with joy’

Its author’s tears are traced behind the words. Sadly, the church at Orton offers little spiritual food outside its services; its open building, whilst welcoming visitors to ponder its history, offers little gospel witness or solace for hurting souls. I pray this person will find Christ, who alone offers inner peace, and teaches us to love and have joy once more.

Matthew 11: 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.