Today’s Prayer to Passage will be from the book ‘Light from Heaven’ by Jan Karon.

Today I pray, “Dear God, What enlightening greeting from Heaven can you send us in these modern times?”

Following my prayer, I held the closed book in my hands and opened it to this passage on page 235:

“‘How’s what goin’?’ J.C. snapped.
‘You and Adele, of course. Did you go to the station and turn yourself in?’ That had been a great idea, even if he said so himself.
‘No way I would do that dumb stunt.’
So, did you take her flowers?’
‘No.’
‘Out to dinner?’
‘No.’
‘Anything?’
‘I tried.’
‘What happened when you tried?’
‘I can’t do that stuff. There’s no way.’ Tears brimmed suddenly in J.C.’s eyes.”

Well, OK then! This is a modern greeting from Heaven alright! I suppose there’s really no other way around it; I will open this space for streaming song lyrics and an interpretation of today’s passage.

The “station”, here, brings me to the stations of the cross, with which I am not familiar. Yet from information I found online I have read that the Stations of the Cross are images of Christ on the Cross at the crucifixion, given reverence to during prayer. The Wikipedia article on Stations of the Cross states, “The style and form of the stations can vary widely and often reflect the artistic sensibility and spirituality of the time, place, and culture of their creation.”

Hmmmmm. How do we apply a modern style and form of the time, place, and culture to our reverence for what Jesus Christ gifted us? And what might He say, from Heaven, if given the chance?

And with that, here are the lyrics to a famous song in today’s popular culture, ‘Hello’ by Adele:

“Hello, it’s me
I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time’s supposed to heal ya
But I ain’t done much healing

Hello, can you hear me
I’m in California dreaming about who we used to be
When we were younger and free
I’ve forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet

There’s such a difference between us
And a million miles

Hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done
But when I call you never seem to be home

Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I’ve tried
To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore

Hello, how are you?
It’s so typical of me to talk about myself I’m sorry
I hope that you’re well
Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happened

It’s no secret that the both of us
Are running out of time

So hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I’ve tried
To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore

Ooooohh, anymore
Ooooohh, anymore
Ooooohh, anymore
Anymore

Hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I’ve tried
To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore”

P.S. While posting this, I received this notification on my iPad: “Make sure your phone is turned on and in range.” Smiling.