Friday, March 8, 2024

Dear God,

How long does a prayer last?  The end of the amen?  When it is over?  How long?

Recently at my stay at a monastery, I visited the grotto where prayer candles were burning.  A day or two later I returned and the same candles were glowing.  I thought about the question.

Your son once said, "Pray without ceasing."  Does that mean a prayer is eternal?  I think so.  I believe a prayer once prayed is one that remains, one that circles the cosmos, sticks and continues long, long after the amen is spoken.

Several years ago I had a vision of two huge lights coming together on a collision course.  I so believed what I was seeing that I took hold of one of the spindles and hung on tightly in our living room.  I thought maybe it was going to be the end.  But what happened was they did collide, split off with billions of tiny points of light. When I asked you what they were, you said they were ancient prayers.  I realized then the eternal nature of prayer.  I believe prayers prayed in earnest remain to bless people in the present but also in the future. They outlast the person who prayed the prayer.

All this is to say that our prayers matter to you, O God.  When you invite us to pray without ceasing, you meant the cosmos was to be encircled with prayer that goes on and on and on.

Holy God,

thank you

for the gift

of prayer

and for

all those

who pray.

If prayer

is a candle,

may it

radiate forever.

May our prayers

bring more light

into this

dark, chaotic world.

Yours, Andrea