Adult Daily Prayers
four simple words
Most of my art is making something I need for myself.
This image may not be for everybody and that’s fine.
It’s for some though… and it’s definitely for me.
I know Anne Lamott wrote a beautiful book about prayer called Help Thanks Wow.
The kind of book, if you’re an author, especially of two prayer books, you think “I should’ve thought of that. It was right there the whole time!” It’s an amazing book… one I’m so glad she made. She was the One to make it!
But she left out a lament.
Which often seems so best expressed in a cuss.
I mean, Anne kind of alludes to it being left out in the book, and the good Lord knows she’s not ashamed of swearing. And I understand why it’s not in the title.
Market discrepancy
Moral meritocracy in American culture.
The distaste of swearing in front of children at book stores.
I understand.
But if I’m honest, “Fuck” is just as common a prayer in my life as Help, Thanks, and Wow.
It’s a lament. Just like balderdash, fizzlesticks, and another fav… “oh poop”.
It’s a way to express grief. It’s a way to verbalize sorrow.
It’s a concise way to say:
Why is the world this way?
Why is there enough but so much needless hoarding?
Why are our leaders crazy?
Why are we destroying ourselves?
Why is everything on fire?
Why are innocent kids being bombed in Gaza, and then people on the internet telling me that I should support Israel while others telling me that I’m not saying enough about Gaza with my platform?
Why do my two boys have incurable eye diseases?
Why can’t I get myself out of bed today?
I’m not trying to preach to the choir… knowing you all feel similar in your own ways.
We all have our laments of choice.
But I think the key ingredient is whatever and however you express your lament becomes the conduit of being Honest.
When asked about prayer Jesus states it’s less about being performative and more about saying what you’d want to say in private… where no one is looking… where you’ll say what’s on your mind.
And I find this one of the most necessary aspects of prayer…. The saying of what needs to be said.
Sometimes I don’t know what needs to be said, so I’ll fumble through all the words in my journal until I find something that lands.
Sometimes I don’t know what to say at all so I’ll use a song, poem, or picture to help say it for me.
The point is not eloquences. The point being set free by the truth.
Also… I’m not pitching a process to be industrialized… but I do see a process in the order of these four words.
It’s helpful to have a gratitude practice always.
But prayer begins most often out of some kind of crisis. Some kind of need for benevolent assistance. A request from a honest vulnerability.
“Help”
Then there is the loss of an illusion. A protest for the way things seem to be. An exclamation at the pain that comes from loss. The breaking of a heart.
“Fuck”
Then… after some time…can come a viewpoint from another angle. A taking stock of all that one still has. A grander perspective. A sacred humility. A beautiful smallness. A tender moment of Grace.
“Thanks”
Then… often unexpectedly… we didn’t see what new reality this would all reveal. The Divine intentionality. The Cosmic Joke. The paradoxical blessing. The benevolent fluke. The impossible mystery.
I am a part of this impossible mystery.
“Wow”
…
Mine is Lord Have Mercy, Christ have mercy, Holy Spirit, what the fuck!! It helps
This vid and song fits well with “fuck.”
https://youtu.be/QrPQfNjeHlo?si=ktZnYQClYySQJsjA