What on earth are you talking about ?
Surely it’s just asking God for a whole list of stuff ?
Like going to Tescos,
except that I don’t want to buy food,
but health and happiness and things like that
– for me or for those I care about …..
Oh and sometimes I want to get bigger things off the shelf
like world peace and no starving people and so on !
And I guess,
God’s got a kind of goodness credit-card,
so that I can build up my balance
by being nicer and more caring.
But it’s not like that at all !
Prayer is not like shopping – it’s like dancing !
Imagine you’re alone on the dance floor,
no sense of embarrassment or inhibitions,
the music is fantastic – just makes you want to move
not just tap your feet,
but leap and flow and glide in the perfect expression of the music
but you’re not sure how to do it – it’s there, but not working
And you open your eyes, and there’s someone else there,
not a partner, but a guide
– someone who can show you exactly how to move
and they begin with basic steps – but even they feel right
and then the next, and the next
until you’re flowing and gliding and the music and you become one
And somehow, as you dance,
the music begins to touch those around you
most of them cannot hear the music clearly,
but they can see the grace of your dance
and are touched
and they too begin to catch the rhythm
and as they do so, they too are changed
they begin to find health and happiness for themselves
and your dance widens and deepens
and you find you movements gain passion and breadth
and somehow the steps involve the lost, the lonely and the least
and they too are changed, as you dance through their situations
and your prayers are answered
but through the music
not through Tescos
the music comes to a gentle end
and you look up to find the musician was the Father
and the guide was the Son
and the music was the Spirit
and the dance floor is fading
as you see your friends and family weeping
and yet, even as their pain touches you
you hear the next song beginning
and now the dance takes hold
and sweeps through you in a whole new way
as the freedom of eternity allows you to express the music perfectly !
