Time stopped today. 11:47 am on the corner of Lee and Monticello. Beth Zych up front. The full choir behind her. Two bars of a gospel riff on the piano and then the song, "Somebody's Praying.'" It was astonishing. Beth's solo, the choir's increasingly loud choruses. Here's the song:
I wonder tonight who is praying for me. If the inverse is converted, no one. I am a sloppy prayer. I do not pray unless there is a crisis or I am panicked. Maybe when something incredibly unbelievable happens, I might remember to give thanks.
I remember when I broke my arm and I spent hours and hours in physical therapy. In those many minutes, I would think of Jennie. And Sheri. The driver of the day. The kids I was not healed enough to teach. I would talk in my head to them. I would think about how they were moving through their days. It was then that I decided -- I hoped -- that that thinking was enough. That if I were to be ceaselessly praying, it would have to be in this form. Just thinking, just running people through my head.
So today, if you are willing to believe what I believe, then these are the people who walked through my thoughts today. Can you call it it prayer please? Tia, Anne, Clover, John, Jim, Maggie and Allie, Bill, George, Sheridan, Cullen, Tavish, Tia again, my brother, Mark, Kathy, Susan, Margaret, Rita Marie, Helen, Grace, Ron, Jeff, Ann, Tia again, Tia now, Christine, Lindy, my father, my mother, my grandmother, Anne, the Steelers, the choir, Eric, Deanne, the woman who slices my roasted turkey, Caroline, Jill...
Somebody's praying. If I can think of all of these people, maybe just maybe, somebody's praying for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment