August 24, 2022
“It was One of My Favorite Toys”: A Prayer
O Lord, it was one of my favorite toys as a child, a Magic Slate,
a sheet of transparent film
over a black, waxy board,
draw on the film,
black lines appear,
a drawing drawn,
but if
disappointed,
dissatisfied,
done,
lift the sheet
and like magic
the drawing gone,
erased,
vanished,
clean sheet ready
for another drawing;
and how I wish
my mind
like that,
a sheet of transparent film
over the slate of my mind,
my imagination’s imaginings
etched on the film, but then
lift the sheet
and like magic
the images
gone,
erased,
vanished;
how I wish
my mind like that,
because
there are days
my imagination
runs riot,
runs riot with
images
drawn by
fear or anxiety or uncertainty,
images
created by
what ifs,
what if the immunotherapy doesn’t work,
what if the cancer spreads,
what if run out of options;
images
of it all
going south,
going wrong,
going badly
(as in going, going, gone);
my imagination
running riot
even when
feeling good, things
going good, things
going in good direction;
and I have a feeling that
not the only one,
a lot of us
wishing
we could just
lift that sheet
and the images
that plague and haunt us
would magically
disappear
because
they make
hope hard.
But it’s not just the cancer in me, but the cancer in our nation,
what’s happening to us,
what politics has become,
what people have become;
the other
the enemy;
the truth
a victim
of power;
uncivil citizens confronting uncivilly
civil citizens;
kill, hang, shoot, the new language of
political discourse;
and the violence,
the schools,
guards guarding games,
armed and ready;
a nation ailing, a sickness spreading, cancer growing;
and so,
my imagination
running riot,
images
of our grandchildren,
what might happen to them, other children too;
images
of our nation,
what might happen to us;
images
scary,
frightening,
terrifying,
making
hope hard.
O Lord, I know there is no Magic Slate mind, there is only
imagination
created by faith,
shaped by the Gospel,
formed by thoughts of you;
the faith
that trusts
you are still
Lord of all;
the Gospel
that calls us
to follow
Christ and
to love one another;
thoughts of you
with us,
healing us,
strengthening us,
forgiving us
(kinda like a sheet lifted, clean slate),
loving us,
casting out
all fear;
and so,
images
of hope,
images
of ourselves
overcoming,
images
of our nation
overcoming,
overcoming illness or grief or fear,
overcoming violence, evil, sick politics,
overcoming
the cancer.
O Lord, we pray as well for peace in the Ukraine and in
all war-torn areas, and for
those who are battling disease,
those who are hurting,
those who are dying,
those who are grieving,
those who are struggling emotionally,
and the hungry and homeless and refugees of this world.
Heal, comfort, console, uplift, and be there for them, and
move us to be there for them as well.
O Lord, it was one of my favorite toys as a child, and
even though I wish
it was possible,
no Magic Slate mind;
but still,
I imagine my mind
to be like a
Magic Slate
and every day
I picture lifting that sheet,
erasing the images that
make hope hard, and
imagining
myself well,
our nation well,
images
that
make hope
if not easy,
a lot less hard.
Amen.