Beatrice Chapter 14

Prayer Lesson

“Dean! Jean is going to be a Grandmother. Isn’t that great? She sounded so happy and she said she was doing great. Isn’t that great? Dean, are you listening to me?”

“Yep, I am happy for you,” he said.

“Why are you happy for me? It’s Jean who has such good news.”

”I am happy for you because you are happy too.”

“Dean, I think I prayed, but I’m not sure.”

“If you think you did, then you did,” he said.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how to pray. What do you pray about?”

“Sometimes nothing, sometimes everything.”

“Why did I even ask? Dean, can you teach me how to pray?”

He replied, “Do you remember the prayer we said every morning at school when we were kids?”

“Yes, and the pledge of allegiance too.”

“You could pray that one.”

“Is that what you do?”

“No,” he replied. “

“Can you teach me to pray like you do?” I asked.

He said, “Fold your hands and close your eyes like this,” as he closed his eyes. “Close your eyes and see the darkness.”

“Ok, got it, I see it.”

“Now listen,” Dean said.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Shhh. Be patient and silent and listen to the darkness. When the darkness becomes lighter, you will hear God.” I opened my eyes and looked at Dean.

“God talks to you?” I asked.

“No God does not speak words as we know it. You will hear God as a thought transference or an idea. You will receive a transference of understanding that he conveys into your mind, when and if you really need to hear God.” I closed my eyes again. Darkness, silence, nothing.

“Nothing is happening here Dean.”

“Shhh. Be patient and believe.” So, I tried it again, but still nothing. Okay, well enough of that I thought to myself.

“Dean, do you think you are Jesus?”

“No.”

“You look like Jesus.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you sure you don’t think you are Jesus?”

“Yes, I am sure,” he replied.

“What about the dying part and rising up to meet God and then un-dieing. Kinda like we learned about Jesus in Sunday school, right?”

“No.”

I was getting a headache thinking about all of this kind of stuff so I went back into the captain’s office and turned his radio on.

Janis Joplin, “Mercedes Benz.” Oh Lord!