Tomorrow it will be three months since the little girl Madeline McCann went missing in Portugal. Whatever - with the wisdom of hindsight - we may have thought about the circumstances of her disappearance, we can only sympathise now with her distressed family, not least because all parents must have experienced similar heart-stopping moments when a child was missed, however momentarily. There but for the grace of God can go any of us; including, of course, the holy family. For according to St Luke's Gospel, when Jesus was twelve, his parents once returned from a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem and only realised he wasn't with them after a day's travelling.
Recounting that now brings to my mind a half-buried childhood memory. I was in Sunday School. The teacher read us this story. She wanted to make the point - which is St Luke's point - that Jesus, somewhat precociously, had lingered in the temple because he had to be about his heavenly Father's business. In other words, even as a boy, he knew who he was. This was all lost on me. At the age of seven, I was simply shaken by the fearful realisation that if the holy family could lose track of the son of God, my own family could certainly lose track of me. This was an epiphany: however loving your parents, life was not risk-free.
We are not told whether Joseph and Mary resorted to prayer, though this is what people of faith do when distressed. It is what Madeline's parents have done since their daughter disappeared. But a society that has strayed far from religion must find the practice of prayer puzzling. In public discussions the assumption always seems to be that believers look to prayer to bring about a particular eventuality.
Of course, in prayer we do share with God our concerns, and also, naturally, how we want things to turn out. But believers always pray, explicitly or implicitly - to quote the Lord's Prayer - 'thy will be done' - a recognition that prayer cannot guarantee outcome. Prayer is not a mechanism for getting God to do something he would not otherwise do. But it is an acknowledgment that whatever comes to pass, we are not cut off from the love of God. This is what the saints mean when they say - as the anchoress Julian of Norwich famously said - that all will be well. All will be well, not necessarily because what transpires will be as you desire it, but because you will be given through prayer the resources you need to see you through, to face whatever happens.
Our desire is that Madeleine will be restored to her family unharmed. In the meantime, her parents can know the peace that can come to troubled hearts through prayer. For whatever the outcome, when the world seems mad or bad, for those who pray, all will be well.
Rev Dr Allan Billings - Radio 4
