PRAYER
At this time of the year, when days are still short and temperatures discouraging for outdoor pursuits, it is good to relax in a favourite chair and bask in the warmth of the afternoon sunshine as it streams though a west window. My eyes close and I remember a hot summer day at Camp Norland in Northern Ontario. I walk purposefully through the tall trees in shorts and a tee shirt, tanned skin glowing in the hot sun under the pure blue sky.
In my imagination, I am walking up the steps into the boys’ cabin again. I need to meet with them about a program they will present tonight at the campfire. I knock briefly and lift the latch ready to step inside; they are expecting me. But I stop in the doorway, stunned by the sudden darkness. I grope my way to sit on a bunk amongst the guffaws and chortles of the boys. I am impressed with the industry of these young lads. They have blacked out the windows with curtains and towels and secured the seal with tape. Knotholes and chinks in the cabin walls and roof are stuffed with socks.
They have worked hard and achieved their goal amazingly well. Even so, as my eyes adjust to the darkness and we talk about their contributions to the evening campfire, little beams of light that have escaped their attention glow in golden streaks and dust particles swirl around in the cabin space.
How hard it is to block out the light of the sun! Even a cloudy, misty or foggy day is full of the sun’s irrepressible presence. We need the sun. It is ever present, providing what we need. In the same way, we need to pray and God is ever present. Bruce Hindmarsh, a professor at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. wrote, “There is a danger that when we think of prayer, we might think of it as doing something strangely unnatural. Nothing could be further from the truth. As strange as it may sound, without prayer we are not fully human.”
When I first started texting with my cell phone, I thought LOL was short for “Lots Of Love”. Warmth would glow in my heart as I thought of the sender. It is good to be loved. I was a bit disappointed when I learned that it really meant “Laugh Out Loud”. I enjoyed the joke but it didn’t feel the same. Communication from one heart to another is not only precious, it is vital to every person. This is what prayer is.
Now I’m learning what TTYL, BTW and IMO mean. OMG was not very hard to figure out since it, too, is a phrase used commonly in every day speech:
“I slipped on the ice!” – “Oh my God, are you okay?”
“Oh my God, look at that sunset!”
“Oh my God, where did I put my keys?”
“I have to go for tests.” – “Oh my God, I hope it’s not cancer!”
“You’re going on a cruise?” – “Oh my God, that’s so exciting!”
“Oh my God, you’re driving to Calgary in this weather?”
We pray to God more often than we think. We call out to Him to share with us our sadness, surprise, gladness, distress, anger and love. We call out to Him because He is Almighty God, our Creator and Sustainer. We know, innately, deep within our souls that God Is. We want and we need to talk to Him. Deep within our souls, almost hidden, is the knowledge that He is there.
It takes great effort to block out God’s light. Our souls naturally fly to Him when they are released from any grip of disbelief we, society or culture try to exert. Love from above cannot be kept from creeping or flooding into our souls just as at dawn the sun rises above the horizon and the light pervades our wakefulness.
As I am drawn to take my coffee outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun I reflect that I am also irrepressibly drawn to prayer.
by Andrea Kidd
