20160302 (praying)

 Pictures of the 92 children who died in the December 1, 1958 fire at
 Our Lady of the Angels elementary school in Chicago

It’s hard for me to pray the way

They're suggesting and not

Feel silly. I’m subscribed into a

Course that should be called either

“Ignatian Spirituality for Dummies”

Or “Prayer Improvement” (as if 

Anyone really knows best ways

To contact the Divine. Wouncha

Think this is pretty much an innate

Ability of the species? If as is so

Often said, “There are no atheists

In foxholes,” it would be unfair to

Put them there without giving them

Some ability to let God know He

Should save their unbelieving asses.

So far most of the methods for prayer

Seem like tricked out guided

Visualizations of the self help age.

My eyes are closed mostly to avoid

Seeing other subscribers at the table

As I’m asked to “breathe God in,”

And breathe out everything that is 

Not God.” Problem for me is, if 

God is everywhere, He’s already 

In there whether I’m breathing 

Or not, and as for the not-God

Stuff, does that include the

Alveoli and the bronchi which

I may need to sustain life after

Meditation? OK, I’m being a 

Smartass but at least I’m an

Honest one. I really can’t shut

Off my ordinary tendencies in

Order to think prayerfully. When

I was being guided through the

Story about Jesus healing the

Paralytic who had been lowered

On his pallet through a hole in

The roof made by his friends the

Jesus of my visualization said,

“I’ll heal the paralytic but you

Guys are fixing the roof.” Do

I have a little red Satan-hood

Bouncing on my left shoulder

Whispering these bon mots to

Disturb my thoughts and prevent

Sincere humility from taking

Control? According to our belief

God knows what we need even

Before we ask so why make all

This fuss about asking in the 

First place? Besides He could

Certainly state it better than we

Could however hard we try. 

Sometimes I think it’s like when

We dance around with our sexual

Partner and they know what we’d

Like to do, “But it’s nice to hear

You actually ask.” Well, there’s

Not a lot of surprise when we 

Pray for a job after we’ve been

Downsized, or that the pain should

Stop when we break an arm (or

Give birth for that matter). I

Remember reading once in an

Autobiography of Steve Allen

(Youngsters, Google: Steve Allen)

Of his thoughts about a minister

In the Chicago area trying to

Prove the power of prayer to his

Congregation: he placed seeds

In two pots with soil and placed

One pot on the left arm of the 

Pulpit and the other on the right.

Every Sunday he watered each

Pot with the same measure. He

Told his congregation to pray 

For the plant on the right but

Not pray for the plant on the left.

By March the plant on the right

Had blossomed lushly as opposed

To the one on the left. “See?” he

Haughtily queried. Mr. Allen 

Observed that on the same page

Reporting this miracle was an 

Article on the 1958 fire at Our 

Lady of the Angels elementary

School where 92 students and

Three nuns perished because  

The school had not been 

Updated to existing fire codes.

He stated it would be a merciless

God Who’d bother to add an inch

To a plant yet ignore what were

Likely the most intense pleas of

The children inhaling smoke. I

Don’t think some prayers are 

More skilled than others. 

The only difference is some prayers 

Are honest and others are dishonest.

God and the person praying alone

Know which are which.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016