I have been thinking about the nature of prayer. I pray- a lot and for a lot of people and situations. However, I am not very superstitious and don’t believe in magic, no matter how godly. Some of the dearest people in my life think it is very quaint for an otherwise relatively intelligent person to pray. So, what do I think I am doing when I pray?

The answer wakened me this morning. ‘Leaning into the good.’ That’s what prayer is to me- mentally, spiritually, and even sometimes physically, leaning into the good.

I have worked for years as a hospital chaplain. I have seen the most horrendous things happen to the nicest people. I have seen young people die who should not and elderly people linger when all they wanted to do was to ‘go on.’ I have seen doctors stand at the side of a patient’s bed and say, ‘there is no medical reason why this person should be alive.’ In my experience, prayers from all sorts of people matter- from those who think they must say prayers according to the very strict dictates of their faith with just the right words to those of no particular faith at all whose prayer is more in the nature of a simple “Oh, God help us.”

The laws of physics exist and we are subject to them. Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, including automobiles. Gravity is part of our lives and when we fall we sometimes break. Organisms eventually weaken and die. God does not ‘do’ physics or biology to people. We are part of the great systems of the universe and its laws apply to us. But love and compassion are just as powerful and compelling as the laws of physics. In any given circumstance, we may not know what is best and right and true and even possible. What we think is best may not be. But when we pray, we lean into the good- a good beyond our limited knowing- and beyond what we think is possible.

We may want, with all our hearts, for a loved one to come back to us- to recover from a deadly illness or injury. But, if they did, they might not come back to a life they would want or we would want for them. At some point, we lean into the good- whatever it may be – beyond our knowing.  So, for each of you who ask, and for many of you who don’t, I will ‘lean into the good’ in my prayers for you and ask, humbly, that you do the same for me when your thoughts turn my way.  Peace

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Donna Compton is a retired hospital chaplain, is Disciples of Christ ordained, attends an open and affirming UCC, and preaches for two Unitarian Universalist churches regularly.