A Place to Pray
Is there a better place to pray than here,
wherever “here” happens to be?
Aren’t all places good places to pray?
And so is this one.
I am welcomed by water teeming with life…
flowering lilies, duckweed, minnows,
a rabbit (believing it is safely out of sight) nibbling clover,
ducks and sitting rocks,
a bird that I don’t recognize, large and beautiful,
singing of other feathered friends.
The sounds of water falling,
insects,
leaves in the gentlest of breezes
under a sky decorated with clouds,
white, blue, grey.
Artists painting landscapes.
The smell of cigarette smoke from visiting lovers.
Is there a better place to say thank you for this day,
this time,
the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel,
the luxury of leisure that allows me
to simply sit and be in this place?
Surely, just to notice is prayer in itself,
accepting the invitation of revelation.
Oh God, you love me so, so much,
much more than I deserve,
yet I think I hear you inviting me
to enter more fully into life and joy with you,
and to join with you in inviting others to do the same.