Eeyore On Prayer

Have you ever been in a conversation where the other person does all the talking and you can't get a word in?  It's pretty frustrating, isn't it? I have a long distance friend who can talk my ear off, but never stops to ask about my day or how I am doing. I often hang up the phone feeling unfulfilled in our friendship, like I didn't get a chance to share from my heart.

I have the same problem when I am talking to God.But I'm the one who is doing all the talking.I admit - it's hard to talk to someone who is invisible. So maybe that's why my prayers end up looking like a shopping excursion on Amazon.com rather than a conversation.

"I'd like one of those and one of those, and oh, that's cute too. Just add it to my shopping cart."

Not exactly what I'd like my prayer time with the Almighty to look like.

Some of my favorite theologians are found in The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie the Pooh. The animals in The Hundred Acre Wood have a lot to say about life, friendship, and in this case -- prayer.

The story starts with Eeyore who complains that nobody has visited him for seventeen days. Rabbit disagrees, saying he spoke to him last week.

"Not conversing," said Eeyore. "Not first one and then the other. You said 'Hallo' and Flashed Past. I saw your tail in the distance as I was meditating my reply. I had thought of saying 'What?' - but, of course, it was then too late."

"Well, I was in a hurry," explained Rabbit.

"No Give and Take," Eeyore went on. "no Exchange of Thought:

 'Hallo -- What' --I mean, it gets you nowhere, particularly if the other person's tail is only just in sight for the second half of the conversation."

I'm hoping my times of prayer are more than God catching a glimpse of my backside as I'm running out the door.

How about you?

_______________

This post was originally published in the SanTan Sun News in the Spiritual Reflections section. Sept 3-16, 2011.