>>5642618You head down the stairs to the lower church, intent on finding a deserted nook or corner where you can pray in relative peace.
A skeleton crew of priests greet you as you pass, and you use the opportunity to ask for directions, explaining that you would greatly appreciate a bit of privacy.
One of the younger priests looks like he wants to say something, but is interrupted by a far older priest who solemnly directs you to the space requested.
Your mother, bless her, was a devout Methodist who made a point of dragging you to church every single Sunday, without fail. In contrast, your father couldn’t have given less of a shit about religion and enjoyed sleeping in extra-late to spite her. Can’t give him too much grief for that though, as soon as you were old enough to start making your own decisions, your church attendance plummeted to the holidays exclusively.
Even still, old habits are tough to break. The long-unspoken words are still etched in the annals of your memory, and leap to the forefront of your mind when you kneel, close your eyes, and clasp your hands together.
It might be a little pretentious or heretical, but you always made an effort to have your prayers be more of a conversation than a demand or request.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS5Zf5NYseo> “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”Your voice is quiet, more of a whisper than anything else.
> “It’s been quite a while, Lord. I can’t even remember the last time that we spoke."Despite yourself, you can’t help but feel the slightest bit foolish that you’re doing this.
> “For the longest time, I used to think that prayer was a waste of my time. That the time spent doing so would be better spent actually tackling the problem at hand. As you can most likely tell, I’m still not convinced that it’ll work. But now, I’m not as certain that it won’t work. You may be real, and you may be listening, but plenty of folks know of issues that are within their power to solve and do nothing about it. I wish I could get mad at you for that, but that’s on them, not you.”You take a moment to steady your emotions and continue.
> “It’s humbling, y’know? The certain knowledge that there are things which outclass you in every meaningful way. And yeah, I know that time and death and other such concepts exist. But I’m talking about actual beings; that matter how hard you try, you’ll never match up to even an iota of their power. And I’m not talking about Superman.” 