Neighborhood Prayer

 "May my neighbors in this house

Experience joy today ~

And may their joy

Point the way back to you

O God!"

When I walked by your house today, this is the prayer I prayed.

I don't know where this came from on

    such a foggy day ~

       this prayer for joy in the midst of the mist.

Happiness is shallow and passes quickly

   Like the spring deluges that send rivers of water down the street

      Too fast to go deep, deep into the earth

         Travelling, instead to sewer drains.

But, joy is deep - even in the midst of sorrows and pain

   It lies in wait, ready to rise or bubble up every now and then

      More like the steady rain - or the mists of fog -

          That fall gently and deeply into the earth.

I pray for my conservative neighbor who thinks might makes right,

The neighbor who is hustling his children out the door so they get to school on time,

The one who is lying in a sick bed in her home, awaiting death's call,

The mother who has so many balls juggling that she barely has time to take a breath,

The person in the car who drove by just now,

Those air conditioner installers who just pulled up in front of that home,

The people I might not like, the people I could like

The people I know, the people I don't know

Suffering Syrians and those from Afghanistan

Soldiers and peace makers

Israelis and Palestinians

One percenters and ninety-nine percenters

The agnostic neighbor, the biblical literalists

Old and young, doubters and believers

This is my prayer today ~

May my neighbors in this world

Experience JOY this day ~

And may their joy
Point the way

Back to you, O God!