My daily drive to and from work is 1 hour long! You notice a lot while driving so much; See it, OWN it!
I noticed more than a few times when people are walking along the roadways and have been so close to traffic that it’s scary. I always think that I don’t want to accidentally hit them or see it if someone else does.
See it, own it; so I began to offer a little prayer for their safety. “Please God, send your Holy Angels to surround and guard them, and may Our Lady cover them with her mantle.”
This seems right and just; pray for those who you see. Just a quick prayer for their safety and keep on keeping on.
Then one day it occurred to me to ask “what about their souls?”
I know God. I hope to be with Him in eternity. I wonder does this stranger who I have noticed, know God?
Obviously, I have paid enough attention to this person(s), to pray for their safety, but what could be more dangerous than to not know God? And what could I do about it anyway? I certainly can’t stop on my way to work and try to evangelize and I really don’t think I’d have the guts to do so!
But can I turn a blind eye to their salvation now that I have seen this person? No, I cannot.
… and the seeing eye, the Lord has made… Proverbs 20:12
So now whenever I see a person that I pass by, I offer a prayer for their eternal salvation. The prayer I pray is simple, but I think it does them just fine.
God, please let this person know You in complete truth, love You with all of their heart, serve You with full faith, and be with You in heaven for eternity. Amen.
I see it, I OWN it. Did you notice the little acronym I made? I think it is quite clever.
OWN = Orison When Noticed
Orison definition: a prayer
I’d like to encourage you to pray for passersby too. No prayer is ever wasted, especially one offered out of love for another.
I can’t wait to get to heaven and find out how these little offered prayers affected someone’s eternal life. Imagine all of the friends that will greet me when I get there and they tell me “thanks for the prayers, I needed it.”
OPI = oremus pro invicem Let us pray for each other.