A man had a problem with prayer. He asked a holy monk for help. The monk asked if he had a favourite chair at home. He advised him to sit in the chair everyday for a few minutes, without interruptions, and just look through the window and observe... what do you see. Recently, I noticed a silver thread between two tree branches, quite a distance apart. This web was so delicate that it caught the light of the sun spasmodically. It was glistening silver. A leaf, like a ballet dancer, seemed to dance in space, until I realised, with a closer look, that it was held by this gossamer thread. Wonder, yes, and prayer too.

I am not an adviser on how to pray. I like, the mystic, Sister Wendy Beckett, who says that we pray if we want to pray. Is it attitude. There are as many ways of praying as there are human beings. A walk in the Park, is a kind of prayer time, I like. There are the old reliable, heart, prayers ...Holy Mary pray for us Now ....Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ....Blessed be God ..name Rosary Titles. Then, there are the ‘outside prayers’, the wonderland of trees and hedges , the seasons greetings, the bird songs. Also the babies and dogs always look at me. I like to think that the ear plugged walkers, or runners, are getting a prayer kick too. Anyhow, the experts say that it is best to keep ‘a date’ with prayer, be it in the chair, or travelling, waiting, caring, celebrating, grieving. It can be anytime, anywhere, standing at a gate. Just being.

Liam Hickey, St.Ciarans, Hartstown, Dublin 15.