A Word from Laura: Tiny Prayer
This week I discovered The Book of Tiny Prayer by Micah Bucey, a progressive faith leader in New York City. During the first year of covid, frustrated by isolation, Bucey created one-sentence prayers and posted them on-line each day. His book of blessings and thanksgivings may inspire anyone seeking to live courageously into God’s love and justice, as we do at Western.
As we enter Lent, this time of growth, of coming to terms not only with our mortality and anything that gets in the way of God’s love and justice, I invite you to try tiny prayer using Bucey’s model.
Pick one thing or person or group of people on your heart or mind and write your “for” line.
Some examples:
For the people of Ukraine and those uprooted from their homes by war or violence
For elected officials
For a neighbor experiencing homelessness
For [insert the name of a person who has inspired you] who showed us all how to live with love and compassion
For my friend [insert a name] who reminded me that I am not alone in [a difficult situation]
Write one sentence, either a blessing beginning with “May you” or a thanksgiving beginning with “Thank you.” Some examples for each of the subjects above:
May you find that your basic needs are met as nations come together to advocate with justice and compassion.
May you work on behalf of the people you represent, paying attention to those whose needs have been systematically forgotten.
May you find a community to call your own and a place that gives you shelter.
Thank you for your writing that bore witness both to the injustice your community experienced and the ways your experience shaped your vision and hope for greater love and justice.
Thank you for being there and knowing what to say – and what not to say – when I was really struggling.
My only caveat: while anyone can pray one sentence, it’s not always easy. (I want to say much more!) But the deep wisdom in keeping it simple allows us to use our energy to decide what to do next, rather than deciding on the words themselves. Rather than writing down the next sentence, we can ask how God’s Spirit might be using that inclination to move us to act or to change our own thought pattern for the sake of something new, or to give us the strength to do something we thought was too difficult.
During this Lent, a time of growth, tiny prayers can help us grow a spirituality that deepens racial and cultural justice in our church and world. One sentence to God on behalf of someone or something else can connect our personal faith to our public theology. Over this season, try tiny prayer for yourself. You may want to start with Micah Bucey’s; you may be ready to take off on your own! We’ll also try some tiny prayer in our worship together.
May we all know the greater power of God’s love and justice, at work in us and beyond us,
Laura