Friday, October 23, 2009

Being a Believer in Prayer

Initially this is a harrowing story about a robber and clerk. But it ends beautifully. May God bless this clerk, Angela Montez, immensely for her incredibly brave beautiful forgiving spirit and may God bless the robbber too.



I believe in the transformative power of prayer.

8 comments:

rebecca said...

Wow, thank you Judith for posting this. What a point of transformation for them both. I think a higher power was at play here because for 40 minutes no one came in or noticed? That was indeed incredible. My heart felt for the young man because you could sense the desperation of his action. I think given different circumstances this would be something outside of his realm of consciousness. And, you know what, Judith? There but for the Grace of God we go ourselves. If our situations were as dire as his, can any of us say that we would not do something that is unnatural to us or illegal to survive? Yes, he has to pay for his crime, but I hope the justice system views him with eyes of compassion and perhaps offer a helping hand.

That lady was brave, regardless of what she says. She was definitely scared but I believe the lesson here was that she saw a person who was suffering first and then a gunman. How powerful is that? Tremendous kudos have to be given to her for having had the courage and voice to reach out to him. Sometimes all a person needs in times of deep despair is to be acknowledged and be heard. Truly, my heart breaks for him.

God bless both of them.

Love to you dear friend,
Rebecca

Corrie Howe said...

Wow! This is a powerful story! What's so amazing is that it was carried on National TV and spoken about open.

I praise God that His Praises are being proclaimed.

Judith Ellis said...

Rebecca - I love it when you pass through because you always make me smile and think. Your words are so thoughtful. In fact, I pretty much feel the same about many of those who participate in the discussions here for various reasons.

I could not agree with you more about the bravery of this dear woman and the reality that therefore the grace of God we could be in this young man's position. It's strange. I know that he went in with the intention of harm and believe that he should pay for what he did. It could have ended terribly.

But I trust that those who will stand in judgment of this young man will consider various means of rehabilitation even as he serves time. There is something about how this story unfolded that pointed to intense desperation. I wonder if he has a record and if he indeed can be helped. Angela Montez is my hero!

Much love also to you, my sister my friend.

Judith Ellis said...

"She was definitely scared but I believe the lesson here was that she saw a person who was suffering first and then a gunman. How powerful is that?"

Oh, Rebecca, I love this. It's powerful indeed. Isn't is amazing when we see something like this and compare it to what we sometimes see as power but isn't really?

Judith Ellis said...

Corrie - I love that both your comment and Rebecca's began with "Wow!" This is exactly how I felt looking at this story for the first time. WOW!

"Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever."

"I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"

Marion said...

This is just amazing, Judith, a real testimony to the power of prayer. I'm blown away that it was on the national news, too! I truly hope the system goes lightly on this man as he is obviously not a hardened criminal. It just broke my heart when he said he had no one to talk to. We are living in desperate times and people are scared and doing desperate things. Thank you for posting this. Love & Blessings!!

Judith Ellis said...

"We are living in desperate times and people are scared and doing desperate things."

This is so true, Marion. Here is a clerk with great compassion.

A big hug to you, friend.

Judith Ellis said...

I would like to think that I would have had such compassion. But I would have probably tried to take his lights out and then pray with a much physically weakened robber. :-)