Sometimes we make praying and prayers too complicated, don’t we, O God.
Thinking we have to be in the right place or say the right words in order to pray. But it is not like that, is it?
Remind us again, O God…
That each time our heart reaches out to another is a prayer.
Every thank you felt and said is a prayer.
Each time we listen carefully and caringly to another is a prayer.
Every time we gaze at another with love overflowing is a prayer.
Each time we reach out our hands to help another, it is a prayer.
Every time our heart breaks for another it is a prayer.
Each time we are stopped in our tracks by beauty is a prayer.
Every time we look closely at a flower;
Or gaze into the depths of space, is a prayer.
The lesson for us is to turn those moments into a lifetime.
Amen.
Back at Me
What if that which we know and name as God asks us the same questions we often ask about or ask of God?
Where are you?
Why did you allow that to happen?
Why do you sometimes seem so far away?
Why don’t you answer me when I talk to you?
I don’t know about you, but considering these questions as God speaking to me rather than my speaking to God brings me up short.
Lately I have been purposefully taking some time each day to look around me or to look back on my day and ask, “Where did I see or sense something of the Holy?”
Where did I see beauty?
When and where did I experience kindness?
When did grace brush up against my life?
For what do I need to pause and say “Thank you?”
Those are all important questions that I need to continue to ask.
But maybe there are another set of questions I need to consider, as well.
What was God trying to say to me today that I ignored or was too busy to hear?
When was God waiting for me to step forward?
Who needed a word of hope or forgiveness that God was waiting for someone (for me?!) to speak?
I don’t know about you, but I think I need to do a better job.
