Thought for the week with Seán Devine, Cirencester Quakers

Reflections in a spare moment.

It is known by many names: prayer; meditation; focused thought; daydreaming… some deny it but most of us do it.

It takes many guises, whether it be a muttering at a bus stop in the rain, at the supermarket checkout our internal chant is “God, what’s the hold up?” or five times a day in holy prayer, we make time for some spirit dialogue.

My first learnt bedtime prayer was “if I should die before I wake, I prayer the Lord my soul to take”, so it may come as no surprise that years of insomnia followed.

A kid in my class at my Roman Catholic primary school told the nuns that he didn’t think prayer worked because he’d spent years praying for a speedboat to no avail.

Is there any power in prayer?

As Quakers we have no set creed or formalized prayer, instead we worship in silence, until we are given to speak.

Words given during silence are genuine, gathered and heart felt and so are received with an open heart.

I try to put this practice into my daily life as it helps when listening to the news or facing those difficult conversations we all have to have now and again.

I always find time for focused thought, meditation, prayer and I will add, to listen, listen to my small voice of calm.

Today may I think from my heart, speak from my heart and love from my heart.