A familiar prayer can be a great comfort, but it can also become rote, so familiar that we do it without bringing our heart or mind to the task. I have been guilty of this lately, so I borrowed Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s An African Prayer Bookfrom our library. The book is separated into the traditional types of prayer, but I preferred to open it randomly and read whatever I found there.

There were prayers that talked about animals and places I’ve never heard of, prayers asking for freedom from oppression by Western nations and prayers written in response to modern crises I was too young when they occurred to understand. I looked further. The Kikuyu people’s use of warrior imagery is academically intriguing, but it didn’t touch my heart. For each text that spoke to my experience or lit something inside me, there were so many that just didn’t.

I was disappointed, but I had added several new prayers to my prayer journal without spending a cent. Not a bad return on investment. I went to the church catalog and clicked the tag “prayer.” More than 100 titles appeared. I smiled. I liked my odds of finding a book I would treasure.

You too can borrow books from our library while the church building is closed. Visit the library catalog at https://stannes.libib.com/ then tell me (triciacrockett@gmail.com) or Garrett which book(s) you’d like to borrow. We’ll sign them out and place them in the library box by the church’s front door for pick up. When you’re done with the book, simply return it to the same place.

—Tricia Crockett