January 29, 2016

My Journey to God

A prayerful woman, standing alone

Facing the structure, feeling it exude its sinister purpose,
One woman stands alone.
Hands coldly together, sometimes clenched, sometimes folded,
She offers her prayers.
Alone outside, knowing inside is a multitude
frenetically answering phones, talking, selling, prepping
and yes, waiting.
A multitude alone inside,
wishing those outside could only understand.
And standing alone on behalf of all of us outside,
She offers her prayers.
She walks across the prayer-worn grass,
Asking for healing, asking for divine intervention,
Asking that death might be conquered again today.
She shoves her frigid fingers deep in her pockets,
And she offers her prayers.
The structure mocks her.
“We know who you are, we’ve seen you before,
Do you think you can stand alone against us?”
Hesitating, wondering, she turns her back to the structure.
Now with steel-eyes, she offers her prayers.
Silently, the cars come out, staring ghosts, never alone.
She feels them in her heart, each one as they leave.
And then one stops.
A girl smiling gently in the passenger seat
Through the rolled-down window calls,
“I want you to know, because I saw you out here,
I knew I wasn’t alone.”
As quick as that, she is reminded
The power of one woman, standing alone.
And she offers her prayers.

By Marc Tuttle
 

(Marc Tuttle is president of Right to Life of Indianapolis and a member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Carmel, Ind., in the Diocese of Lafayette.) †

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