{"id":4123,"date":"2019-07-24T08:28:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T12:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4123"},"modified":"2019-07-16T10:53:25","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T14:53:25","slug":"nearness-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4123","title":{"rendered":"Nearness of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Me:  I’m enjoying the walk today.<\/p>\n

Prodigal:  Me too!<\/p>\n

Me:  How can we bring God into this?<\/p>\n

Prodigal:  Maybe you can share?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We had forgotten You, or very nearly—<\/p>\n

You did not seem to touch us very nearly—<\/p>\n

Of course we thought about You now and then;<\/p>\n

Especially in any time of trouble–<\/p>\n

We knew that You were good in time of trouble–<\/p>\n

But we are very ordinary men.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And there were always other things to think of–<\/p>\n

There’s lots of things a man has got to think of–<\/p>\n

His work, his home, his pleasure, and his wife;<\/p>\n

And so we only thought of You on Sunday–<\/p>\n

Sometimes, perhaps, not even on a Sunday–<\/p>\n

Because there’s always lots to fill one’s life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, all the while, in street or lane or byway–<\/p>\n

In country lane, in city street, or byway–<\/p>\n

You walked among us, and we did not see.<\/p>\n

Your feet were bleeding as You walked our pavements–<\/p>\n

How did we miss Your Footprints on our pavements?–<\/p>\n

Can there be other folk as blind as we?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now we remember…..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We think about You kneeling in the Garden–<\/p>\n

Ah!  God!  the agony of that dread Garden–<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We know You prayed for us upon the Cross.<\/p>\n

If anything could make us glad to bear it–<\/p>\n

“Twould be the knowledge that You willed to bear it–<\/p>\n

Pain-death-the uttermost of human loss.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Though we forgot You-You will not forget us–<\/p>\n

We feel so sure that You will not forget us–<\/p>\n

But stay with us until this dream is past.<\/p>\n

And so we ask for courage, strength, and pardon–<\/p>\n

Especially, I think, we ask for pardon–<\/p>\n

And that You’ll stand beside us to the last.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author Unknown<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush:  and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.  Exodus 3:2<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n

www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n

www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Me:  I’m enjoying the walk today. Prodigal:  Me too! Me:  How can we bring God into this? Prodigal:  Maybe you can share?   We had forgotten You, or very nearly— You did not seem to touch us very nearly— Of course we thought about You now and then; Especially in any time of trouble– We … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNearness of Christ - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nearness of Christ - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Me:  I’m enjoying the walk today. 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