I received as a gift not too long ago a lovely little book by Brian Doyle, titled The Book of Uncommon Prayer, 100 Celebrations of the Miracle and Muddle of the Ordinary. And it is just that. Doyle has a gift for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Any page I opened up to would be a reflection worth reading, but I especially liked this particular prayer, as it is a good reminder than there are so many little things that we can still be enjoying and grateful for.
Prayer for the Reader Who Photocopies This Prayer and Shares it with Friends and Sisters
Dear Coherence: Thank you for beer and friends and pencils and socks and the Red Cross and cellos and Paul Desmond's saxophone and wiffle balls and elm trees and woodpeckers and transistor radios in the pockets of old men who are fishing for bass and perch but also keep one ear on the baseball game. Thank You for suspenders and Larry Bird. Thank You for typewriter keys and stamps and windowpanes and coffeepots. Thank You for Rosemary Clooney’s voice, especially in her later years. Thank You for photocopy machines and friends and sisters and the refrigerators on which we pin up small lovely strange things people we love send us in the mail. Thank You for teeth and earphones. Thank You for sand dollars and seat belts. Thank You for the way men pat their pockets while checking for their keys and wallets and phones. Thank You for the way people defer to each other while boarding the bus. Thank You for all the little things that are not little. Absolutely beautiful work there. If I had a supervisor, I would so be writing a letter of commendation for Your personnel file, but…And so: Amen.
What are the little things you would say you are grateful for? My family added rope swings and fireflies, a fresh cut lawn and bar-b-que in the back yard, a well-oiled baseball mitt, guitar riffs, how dogs’ ears perk up when they’re happy and how our dog, in particular, smells. (And of course the ability to acquaint myself with just how Paul Desmond's sax playing and Rosemary Clooney's voice sound, having never heard either).
What would you add?