Prayer's Effect Can Bounce Back

From Florida-

A few years ago, I was making my daily rounds as a chaplain in a Sacramento hospital when I met an alert, and very friendly, octogenarian.

His present situation wasn't serious, but he was nearing 90 years old, so the likelihood of a "heavenly discharge" was becoming more likely with each passing year. With a balding head and a small frame, he had a Gandhi look about him and maybe even a touch of Gandhi's spirit.

At the end of our visit, I offered the aging Episcopal a prayer for himself and his family. After my prayer, he offered me something that I've never forgotten.

"Does anyone ever offer to pray for you, chaplain?" His question, rare for a patient, told me he was looking outside himself at a time when most patients look, understandably so, inside themselves.

"Well, uh ..." I stumbled, embarrassed that his attention was on my needs, "Occasionally."

"But have you ever had a patient pray for you?" he asked specifically.

"I guess not," I told him in a tone that may have implied that I don't need prayer.

"Then it's about time, don't you think?" he declared with a wink in his voice.

More here-

http://www.theledger.com/article/20120219/COLUMNISTS/120219243?Title=Prayer-s-Effect-Can-Bounce-Back-