Prayer for the Hurried

Krystal Leedy

God,

I don’t have time to pray.

I don’t have time to think.

I don’t have time.

Can you just tell me what I need to pray so I can do it and move on? Because I’m just too tired to think.

Can I just pray my grocery list instead of all the “thee”s and “thou”s?

What do I need today?

Bananas

Milk

Mac & cheese

The fruit juice that my 6-year-old loves

Toothpaste for my partner’s smile that knocks me off my feet

Oh yeah, and a tray of cookies for the potluck

A can of chicken noodle soup for the cold-nosed days

A loaf of bread that my family will transform into sandwiches at school, toast on a bleary-eyed morning, and a spoon for the last bit of spaghetti sauce.

Daily bread.

(Take a breath)

Thank you that each table that I sit at is the Table. Thank you that each meal is the Meal.

Thank you that the mundane can be infused with your Spirit, so I can hear you in my grocery list

And thank you that I recognize your voice

Because I hear it in the gathered assembly on Sundays, In the choir, In the hymns and proclamations that enchant me. And I can hear you even now, while I run in and out of the grocery store, breathless but grateful.

Fill me with pause for just a moment, At the cash register, So that I may offer the compassion you give me To the person who bags my deconstructed meals, Even if we only catch eyes for a moment. And so I may also receive your Word meant for me In the grocery bagger’s eyes.

Because at every stage, This is joyful feast of your people, And you are in the host in the stranger’s guise.

Keep speaking, Lord, your servants are listening. Amen.