Anne Lamott at Prayer: Wow

"When we are stunned to the place byond words, we're finally starting to get somewhere. It is so much more comfortable to think that we know what it all means, what to expect and how it all hangs together. When we are stunned to the place beyond words, when as aspect of life takes us away from being able to chip away at something until it's down to a manageable size and then to file it away nicely, when all we can say in response is "Wow," that's a prayer."

-- from Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott at Prayer: Thanks

"We and life are spectacularly flawed and complex. Often we do not get our way, which I hate, hate, hate. But in my saner moments I remember that if we did, usually we would shortchage ourselves. Sometimes circumstances conspire to remind us or even let us glimpse how thin the membrane is between here and there, between birth and the grave, between the human and the divine. In wonder at the occasional direct experience of this, we say, Thank you."

--From Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott

Overflow seating for Anne's October 17th visit to St. Stephen's is still available! Click here for more information.

Anne Lamott at Prayer: Help

As we look forward to Anne Lamott's visit to St. Stephen's on October 17th-- more information is available by clicking here-- many of us are reading or re-reading our favorite of her books.

One of our staff's most beloved selections is her latest offering, pictured below:



From her reflection on "Help:"

"There's freedom in hitting bottom, in seeing that you won't be able to save or rescue your daughter, her spouse, his parents, or your career, relief in admitting you've reached the place of great unknowing. This is where restoration can begin, because when you're still in the state of trying to fix the unfixable, everything bad is engaged: the chatter of your mind, the tension of your physiology, all the trunks and wheel-ons you carry from your past. It's exhausting, crazy-making.

Help. Help us walk through this. Help us come through.

It is the first great prayer."

For many it is no easy task to loosen the reigns, to admit feeling powerless, to reach out to others for aid. For others it may come more easily. Do you find it easy to either ask for or pray for help? Have you ever reached a place of "great unknowing?"