Faith does not stand alone

Last year, a Wisconsin couple was charged with reckless homicide in the death of their daughter. The girl, who was 11, died from complications from untreated diabetes. The parents had not sought medical care, instead relying on prayer to heal their daughter.

Today they were sentenced to 10 years probation and 30 days a year in jail for the next six years. They plan to appeal. They don't think they did anything wrong.

The quotes available from the couple via the media indicate they truly, genuinely belived that prayer would help their daughter. They never sought any other medical care for her, even when her condition began to deteroriate.

I believe that God gave us minds for a reason, and one of those reasons was so we can do things for ourselves and other people. Doctors have a gift for diagnosing and helping treat illnesses, and we use them not because we don't believe in the grace and mercy of God, but because every person's gift is there to be used, was given for a reason.

When we pray for help and guidance, we should not expect miracles as the only possible result. While I believe occasionally they do happen, I think most of the time, the answers lie in listening for the right choices to make. The answer to "God, what should I do?" is going to be action—action on our parts, and action on the parts of the others we share this world with.

There's a fairly well-known joke that applies here.

A man is caught in a flood, and stuck on the roof of a building. A man comes by in a boat and tells him to get in. The man declines, saying he trusts God to save him. As the water rises, two more boats come by, and both times, the man declines, continuing to say he trusts God to save him. Finally, as the water is about to overcome him, a helicopter finds him and lowers a ladder to him, but he refuses to climb, saying again that he believes God will save him. He is washed away and drowned. When the man gets to Heaven, he asks St. Peter, "Why didn't God send me a miracle to save me?" St. Peter replies, "We sent three boats and a helicopter."

Although it's meant to be humorous, we can still learn something from it. We must learn to recognize when others can help us, when that's the right choice. Prayer and faith alone do nothing if we do not act on the guidance we get from them.

Unfortunately, the parents in this story did not believe that, and still do not. And they lost their daughter to that lack of belief. The result is sad, but the failure to understand why is, perhaps, even sadder.