Prayers of the Ark – the gift of naivete.

The Prayer of the Dog

Lord,

I keep watch!

If I am not here

who will guard their house?

Watch over their sheep?

Be faithful?

No one but You and I

understands

what faithfulness is.

They call me. "Good dog! Nice dog!"

Words…

I take their pats

and the old bones they throw me

and I seem pleased.

They really believe they make me happy.

I take kicks too

when they come my way.

None of that matters.

I keep watch!

Lord,

do not let me die

until, for them

all danger is driven away.

                                                          Amen

Ruth shares my enthusiasm for The Prayers of the Ark. The above prayer is Ruth's choice. I detect a pastoral sub-text in this prayer, about faithfulness that is immune to self-interest, and is based on the faithfulness of God who gives up on nobody. It is such insight, lightly woven into the text, that gives these prayers a rare combination – the gift of naivete and perception at once sharp and gentle.

Interesting that these prayers were written around the same time as another French religious was writing prayers in the vernacular conversational style – Michel Quoist. Does anyone still read him? His Prayers of Life, published in 1954, were a breakthrough in spiritual writing, earthing devotion in everyday events, ordinary living, unremarkable human exchanges. Some of them are dated in the  situations envisaged, they were written for a particular time, and spoke out of a mid century, post-war zeitgeist. But several of them continue to do what good devotional writing should do – disturb us with their passionate love for God and rebuke complacency and motivate our compassion by an equally passionate care for human beings who suffer, whoever and wherever they are. His 'Prayer Before a Five Pound Note' is clearly now dated in terms of money values, and the options for spending it. But it doesn't take much imagination to update it for our own time when money is as morally ambiguous and as attractively idolatrous as ever.

What other books of prayers do you use regularly, or used to use and still hang on to as important stepping stones in your own crossing of the river…..