Ora Pro Nobis
A man lies face down
on the sidewalk
weeping
in our neighborhood
the Catholic Church placed a candlelit shrine
at street level.
The church is closed for public safety
But people need to pray
“to earnestly implore” the dictionary says.
Only those facing darkness can dig deep enough to do this
—humiliation, submission, strength—
to lie on the ground
to speak the unmentionable out loud
and demand to be heard
to bear your soul
and ask something in return
Have you ever stepped, solitary, into the void
and felt the weight of it
and the silence?
rather than papering over it with Netflix
and shouting into Twitter
just stand naked and still in the eye of the storm?
Prayer, they say
is pounding a vending machine
writing to Santa
or worse, commanding a servant:
do my bidding or else.
But to me
prayer is stepping into the ring to stare down an ancient opponent
Despair
Suffering
Fear
and staying there, though I cannot win
Wrestling wrestling and
staying there though I am nearly defeated
pleading with God to show up and
waiting
waiting
waiting
like a man lying face down
on the sidewalk
weeping
I loved reading this. Sad as it is, it is accurate in depicting what many are feeling.
Thank you for putting it down on paper. May God weave something beautiful out
of these many difficult months.