Just Pray

The words upon the large, white wooden sign look worn. “Just pray,” they say. Worn out perhaps might be a better way to describe them. Don’t think for a minute the words were worn from hearts torn and in need of that four-letter word. No, it had been purchased from a lobby because that’s my hobby, if you know what I mean.

Simple they are upon the wall in calligraphy style unique to this design. Brown and buffed out, looking all contemplative-like, and a powerful reminder each time I enter the room. All small letters with no punctuation punctuate the large square frame placed just so.

Reading them daily as a reminder refreshes the soul. Yet, reading them also acts as a reminder of the action needed to do what it says. “Just pray.” Stilling is the hardest part. Then again, it doesn’t exactly say which way is the best way to “just pray.” Sitting comes easy enough in the chair nearby—and inviting is the soft covered pillow upon it which helps one sink deeply into the possibilities of doing just that.

And so, I sit. Looking around to help gather thoughts, I grab the first go-to. It’s a bright orange colored devotional of daily readings within. I begin. It’s an offering of sorts. It quiets. Yet, the pause and the stillness beckon to come tarry with not so much as a whisper. That’s hard. I don’t mind the quiet, but it’s the stillness. Truth be told, I think the quiet is a little difficult too. The thrum of the furnace helps give cadence, directing the quiet—quietly.

“Just pray,” it reads and just how to do that can take on many forms, and it’s all good with God. He’s here to listen, and listen he does while pouring in so we may pour out. He pours into us so we may pour out to those with whom we will meet today, tomorrow and the day after. As I look up, “just pray” as the sign suggests, grabs my attention once again. Soon, I pick up my pen and begin underlining words on the pages before me and it’s all good with God.

The phone vibrates as I failed to keep it on the kitchen counter. It was intentional on my part because one just never knows, when one is called to “just pray,” how one may be inspired to phone a friend. And it’s all good with God. He is patient.

All too soon, the morning beckons to come tarry a while out-of-doors, and it’s all good because how can exercise not be? Right? Off I go to “just pray” as I walk, and I do, and I think, and I pause, and the phone vibrates when I’m off and running, and it’s all good because we have a good God. He knows my heart and how to get my attention as the trees rustle in the breeze and the caterpillars slowly cross the highway, as do I. I am thankful for today and my Father, our Father, because after all, he created and I’m thinking he delights in my delighting in that which he created.

I like that sign, “just pray” as I move throughout the day. Prayer moves, as do I, and it’s all good with God. Why? Because he is good. “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endures forever” (Chronicles 16:34). Amen.

Kathleen Kjolhaug, Theology in the Trenches

Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels