Prayer as breath

The Bishop is leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  On this, the Feast of the Transfiguration, he prayed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for all of us.  I am certain that his prayer holds breath, as everyone*s prayers hold breath.  My breathing today holds prayers for a family waiting for their adopted child to be released into their care from Ethiopia, for friends seeking jobs, for all the guys in the halfway house, for my daughter who just returned from the mission trip to Mississippi where she learned demolition.  She returned with a wealth of stories.  I am grateful that all the molecules mix together and the prayers are all connected, whether breathing in or breathing out.  There are so many prayers I don*t have exact words for.  I figure in our breathing together, God has it covered.

As I grow older

Perhaps no wiser

But certainly older,

I grow more certain that prayer

Holds breath:

My prayer,

Others* prayer for me.

Today I prayed for all of Ethiopia,

For a friend without a job,

For the guys in the halfway house

Especially the new guy coming in

On Monday.

Today I found out my bishop

Breathed for me

In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Filled his lungs and heart,

Prayed for all in the Diocese

In a single certain breath.

I think I am surely older

God-willing wiser

But certainly older.

I know all prayer

Holds the breath of God.

I breathe it in and it contains molecules

From the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Old and just as wise as all breath.

I breathe it out and it spreads through

The whole world

Even Ethiopia.