Celebrating a birthday with a prayer

In El Salvador, whenever someone has a birthday, their family always says a prayer for them. As missionaries, we were frequently asked to say the prayer.

The first time I saw it happen, I was puzzled and intrigued by the tradition. It didn't seem to be limited to members of just one church, but everyone of all different faiths (in all four areas where I served) followed it religiously. The words of the prayer varied, depending on who was saying it, but almost always included two key ideas:

1. "Thank you for permitting [insert name here] another year of life."
2. "Wilt Thou grant that [he/she] has many more years ahead."

When I woke up today, on the morning of my twenty-third birthday, my first thought was of my people in El Salvador. Logically, my second thought was that today I turn 23 years old and I incorporated their prayer tradition in my daily morning supplication to God.

Following the "Amen," I had a burst of inspiration. I think I understand now why the Salvadoreños say what they do in every birthday prayer. They are taught, seemingly from the cradle, a lesson that many people do not learn for a lifetime: that they must not take their lives for granted.

I spent 18 months living among them. Those experiences opened my eyes. They are precious and sacred to me. They cemented for me two truths:

1. God lives.
2. In life, it is much better to suffer believing in God than to suffer without any hope of redemption or resurrection. If we don't have hope in our bitter and dark moments that better and happier times will come, what are we living for? God and Jesus Christ are the only perfect Beings who cannot disappoint us. They are the only ones with the power to make us better than we are, and to return life to those who have died.

El Salvador is one of the most dangerous countries in the world because of gang violence. It's also filled with the most humble, faith-filled, resilient people I've ever known. In my life, I hope to value forever the lessons they taught me. One of the most basic lessons being not to take anything for granted, not even our own lives.