Echo of a Prayer

Echo of The Prayer


“Our Father,”
The congregation, standing, intones
“Who art in heaven,”
Wait … Do you hear them?
“Hallowed be Thy name.”
The echoes, in the background?
“Thy kingdom come,”
Is that an echo from the catacombs?
“Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.”
Do you hear them?
Simon Peter’s baritone? Timothy’s young tenor?
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
There .. another.
I know I heard my father’s voice.
“And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.”
And my sister, who died several years ago.
“Lead us not into temptation.”
Voices mingle, blend, rise
“But deliver us from evil.”
Together, past and present, we crescendo:
“For THINE is the kingdom,
And the power,
And the glory … FOREVER!”

Silence speaks.
Then, breathlessly, we whisper,
“Amen.”