This is how you are to pray...

"This is how you are to pray..."

Matthew 6:9

This reading reminded me of a cute story about my mom. During the last years of her life she was in a nursing home, having had a stroke that robbed her of her memory. She could remember way back in her life, but nothing of the present. So, she could tell you the name of her fifth grade teacher but couldn't remember one minute to the next what was happening now. The care-givers at the nursing home told me that, every day in the dining room, after lunch, she would recite the Lord's Prayer...perfectly complete and with gusto--especially the Protestant part at the end, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory...for ever and ever!" After that, she'd say, "This is Rosie Gainan, signing off." It made me laugh but also touched me that she was so boisterous in sharing her prayer with others. She was never one to wear her faith on her sleeve. So, when I think of the Lord's Prayer, I think of Rosie Gainan, proclaiming it to all assembled company at the nursing home. I think that is what Jesus meant when he said, "This is how you are to pray..." Love, heidi