How to Pray, Without Hurting Yourself

Grandfather!

I will say, "Grandfather", maybe because I am old, too, or maybe because I read it once in a Native American prayer! "Grandfather!"

No, I will call you, "Grandfather" because I want to remind myself, and others who listen, that sometimes I want to call up something old, and something wise; something longer and larger than I am, standing here, thinking, fumbling my way through a thicket. I will imagine you as something very old and very wise, Grandfather, because I need something older and wiser right now.

I imagine that a lot of people might rather say, "Grandmother", or "Mother", as I do, sometimes, too, especially when I know I need something kinder; something warmer and wiser. Maybe, when I was very small, had I ever called my mother, "Jenny", I might have said, "Jenny". I think that is why I stop, somewhere inside, when a woman says her name is "Jenny".

I shall say, "Grandfather", because I remember, still, a grandfather, older, who like me, was a male, and sometimes I want to talk to an older, wiser man, even if he is not really a man, but just a terrible need, sometimes, to talk.

Grandfather, has it always been so, that sometimes we need to stop and talk, and clear our heads? Has it been long that we have known both our beginnings and our endings, and our part in old things, enduring things, and things we have done before? Is it balance, Grandfather, sometimes, to stop and say, "Grandfather", just to figure out that we are not alone? That there is probably wisdom here, somewhere?

O.K., Grandfather! This is Conrad! I am ready now.

As Mari says, "God bless us, every one! No exceptions! Absolutely no exceptions! Amen.

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