PRAYING
by Mary Oliver
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
I love this Mary Oliver poem.
It reminds me that God asks us to pay attention.
When I give myself time to be quiet, to pay attention, I connect myself to the Mystery.
We all have our way to pay attention. My sister finds it in her garden; a friend finds it on the trail; another connects in her early morning walks in the neighborhood; a teacher friend found it in the quiet writing time in her classroom. I find it when I sit and look out the window. We all have our doorway into thanks. When I practice, I find that I can more easily sink into that space in the midst of my busy day.
A Catholic priest once told me that the only way to pray was on my knees, out loud. I figured I was in trouble. But another Catholic priest told me that prayer was not about being correct – it was about being connected. God is Reality and “whatever we do in conscious, loving union with Reality, is prayer.” (Richard Rohr)
It is Pentecost, Ordinary Time. It’s a less busy season of the church. Let us use this Holy Season to strengthen our spiritual practice, to listen – to pay attention so that we may hear another voice.
Susan Garsoe
Senior Warden
