what's in a day?
(or two weeks)


let's see. since david blaine wowed us with his "heroics", i feel like i've stayed fairly busy. maybe not, though. since the last post, i've been a "witness" to lebron almost upsetting the pistons, watched the braves play like a real baseball team again and scratch their way back to .500, gone to a wedding with a sick baby flower girl, contracted the sick baby flower girl's illness (and sit here today, sick as a dog), watched the usa lose a warm-up soccer match to moracco (wtf), and worked a lot. throw in there some family time, catching up with an old friend, and dreamland later today and that just about catches us up.

yes, dreamland. so, sick or not, life could be worse.

i do wish that i had the answer to this question of mine, a question that reared it's head to me again over these past two weeks. where did the style of prayer that uses the word "god" every other breath stem from? you've heard this type of prayer.

"dear god, thank you, god, for this day, god, and everything it has brought, god. father god, thank you, god, for family, god, for penguins, god, and teddy ruxpin. father god, thank you for this meal, god, and the hands, god, that prepared this meal. god, you are so good, god, and tomorrow, god, i pray, if it is your will, god, that i break the world record, god, for the number of times, god, i drop your name in a prayer. amen. god. amen."

please don't get me wrong. prayer is intensely personal, and this style is, no doubt, some sort of learned habit. but why? where did it come from? some of the more powerful moments of prayer come in the form of silence, and filling up the pauses with the word "god" as a way of transitioning from one thought to another just distracts me. i start counting "god"'s. i lose all focus on the prayer and it drives me crazy.

on several different occasions, i prepared lessons on prayer style for the students at huffman but ditched them for fear of "causing a brother to stumble". for a student (hell...for anyone), any prayer is a good prayer, and even i do not believe there's a right way to pray. but i did want to ask the question, where did folks in the group or in the congregation pick that up? maybe i'll never know. i know for sure that, in the long run, it doesn't really matter, but still.

dear god. you are listening to me even when i do not want you to. i never have to address you to get your attention, and because of that, every moment of my day is a prayer. for that, i am thankful. for that, i am lucky that you are intentionally vested in me even when i am not returning the favor. for that, i hope that most of my day makes you proud. even when i am picking on other's personal conversations with you. thanks.

amen.