Praying

So much has been said to me about praying recently. I have always considered my prayers to be a conversation that never really begin or end. Neither have I really wholly relied on the "standard" prayers because they don't always feel like I am communicating but rather reciting.



Prayer flags, primary colored panels of cloth, strung along mountain ridges and peaks in the Himalayas, have always intrigued me. They are said to bless the countryside, are used in healing ceremonies, and are used "to increase life, fortune, health and wealth" (Wikipedia). I like to think that the prayers are carried on the wind to their destination in God's heart.



Metaphorically, FaceBook has become a set of prayer flags if you think about it. Each day, we set out our feelings, thoughts and weights. The wind of technology picks up our writings and carries them to our friends. I read Gayla's FB pages as much as I read my own. I see her family and friends sending out their prayers for her. I do the same. When I have something to tell her that I don't think I can share with the world, I send her a text message.



I communicated with my sister everyday either via Words With Friends, text messages, or meeting up to go to dinner or the gym. Since her death, I have continued this communication through writing these notes, posting to her FB, sending her a text or just calling out to her in my prayers. I still have not dreamed of her but hope to hear from her some day. I'll keep hanging out my prayer flags and hoping the wind will carry my words to her and fill her with my love.