grace

Well, the prayer session went so well, I am now convinced that it had nothing whatsoever to do with my planning.

The last set of sessions I did on prayer (last winter) had so far surpassed expectation that I did not let myself hope that it would ever ‘work’ so well again.  And then today — in a very different group with a different entry point to prayer — God took over again and it all just happened.

It is such an extraordinary feeling when a group suddenly begins to pray.  They trusted each other and shared deeply, despite the mix of old-friends and never-met-befores.  Even the person I though was most likely to prefer a different approach could be seen smiling with sudden humour and compassion at someone else’s story and experience of prayer.  You could see and feel and hear people experiencing something new of God, of themselves, and of the people they were praying for (and with).

Days like this make up for a lot of nonsense in the day to day running of a ‘parish’.