I got interrupted in my prayers tonight by singing.
Not the kind you would expect like children and families singing carols house-to-house (welcome to the South!) in the slushy, mostly-melted snow (ditto.) But the kind when you are so deep in prayer that you can hear the proverbial heavenly hosts sing….
And this is a good thing because I was in one of the three basic prayers, and, even knowing what it was that was in my mind, I could not finish the sentence, “God I thank you…” I knew what it was, and A knew what it was (I use “A” instead of “he” or “she” here.) We were suddenly that old married couple (welll… stretch your imagination here 
who have been together so long that they can finish each other’ sentences, speak without speaking, and (as Scripture points out) God knows our every thought even before we think it. I don’t DEPEND on that to shorten prayer time, but I got that far and … singing.
“God, I thank you…”
As I sat fumbling for where to continue, there indeed was that multitude of the Heavenly hosts. No great Alleluias tonight. But comfort where often there is none, and hope where patience draws thin.
I learned tonight that tomorrow morning (Christmas day) my cousin Terry /might be/… just /might/ be moved from Intensive care to the general floor, after 10 days in ICU, most of that time kept in a drug-induced coma. Yesterday the best he could do was stare sort of off into dead space (I think he and I will later compare notes on what he saw and what he was looking at.) If you spoke his name he could turn his head in your direction, but was still in that grogged-up, drugged out floating space where we don’t remember pain, we don’t remember days of motionlessness hooked up to machines.
We won’t remember.
Today, he was grouchy and asking for Burger King. Believe me, getting back to the “grouchy” phase in ICU is such a blessing after floating for days in that beige nuage, feeling all that alone-ness and fear. The ICU experience after a few days of no stimulation can lead to psychosis and delusions (trust me – I was THERE when my doctor’s hair turned bright peacock blue for about 10 minutes!) When I got out of there and into the general floor, I BEGGED my mother to stay with me because I was so afraid – of the unknown, of what might happen to me next, of the night. She’s an old trooper, and she slept there in my room every night for a full week, in a kind-of comfortable but not really, blue plastic recliner while I was trying to string together thoughts and sentences. For a week she held up the prayer side for the both of us!
“God, I thank you…”
I wanted to thank God for leading my cousin through that, and then, oh… by the way… me too. But as far as my prayer muscles would go tonight was “…well, Lord, you know….” and then… the singing.
I wonder if when Franz Gruber wrote the words “Sleep in Heavenly peace,” he was referring to the Christ child or to us. He wrote of the moment when everything in the universe changed: No Big Bang, no overturning wars, no disasters, no pomp and circumstance. Just the dawn of redeeming grace. It’s almost tough to match the Scripture story of angels scaring the sheepskins off a bunch of shepherds. to here, surrounded by peace and love, the angels sing, “Alleluia!”So simple, so easy.
I think that Gruber – with that sort of promise in mind, meant that WE may now sleep in heavenly peace, as Christ is born this night to bring salvation and grace. And in the silence – the blessed silence – Alleluia!
Rest well tonight, weary world.
God I thank you… Alleluia, Alleluia.
- Amen
Tags: Angels, guidance, Inspiration, prayer
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