Certain Thoughts

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, their soul is on its knees.” – Victor Hugo.

Life often gives us the opportunity to turn to a higher power for needed instruction, insight and comfort. We all know theses times of challenge, tragedy and overwhelming circumstance but I am becoming less and less tolerant of people who, when faced with difficulty, decide to , “pray on it.” I’m with Mother Teresa on this one, ” prayer is the way we prepare our hearts and minds for ACTION.”

Everybody is praying up a storm these days. Some pray that LGBTQIA people will go away or be converted. Some are praying that all infidels die and others are simply praying for a new refrigerator. Here’s the secret…the people who are seriously praying are taking action in service to others.

I see young people taking action on gun violence, women taking action to gain their rights and activists in many nations bringing food and water to those in need. These folks know how to pray. They know how to petition the cosmos for change and they are completely devoid of the pious piffle that comes so easily to the falsely devout. These orisons resonate.

So a big dose of gratitude to those who are militating for the better day and the better way. Catholic prayers- my early education -fall into four categories: Adoration, Contrition, Petition and Thanksgiving. A different way to say this is that there are prayers of praise, asking for forgiveness, asking for a favor and showing gratitude to God. Leave it to the Catholics to parse the thing so aggressively. To me prayer is getting off your ass and flipping a pancake for someone who is hungry; it is weeding another person’s vegetable garden so they have better food. When I see this form of prayer among my friends and in the world at large, I am convinced that there is hope for us.

I guess this blog is a prayer of gratitude.