the oddity° or THE ODDICY° (of prayer)

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Is prayer a thing that I must do today? 

A job that must be done, a task itself?

Is it a thing, commodity, to pray?

- to then tick off, to know I'm in good health?

I am so small and feeble, and my mind-

set quickly altered, or my world-view changed

by some alternate story, which can bind 

yet hadn't worked before I was deranged,

gave up the core of life so that I'd "fit",

& treated secret sacred knowledge as

a common, public, marketplace, event1,

I didn't store up heavenly riches2!

I see it now quite clearly. Thank you God.

A mix between both "exercise" & "friend-

ship"; something to be tasted, with a nod,

a personal response or mindset wend-

ing, woven with a habit or a skill.

I s'pose it's not the only thing like that.

I see that other intercourses will

require that those prerequisites be met.

The mechanism always is a part

of everything experienced down here.

But hesed* loyalty is more than art

and must be first, not "virtually appear".

But while we humans learn to rule like YAH',

the worlds of mortals and immortals both,

there'll be a mechanistic side to pray-er,

but I must see that deeper is my trōth.

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° what goes with an oddity might be called a com-oddity, and what might express an oddity as well, might be an oddicy, which when spoken of in the singular can refer to both The Odyssey (the story of an epic journey of perseverance where Odysseus defeats the rude suitors camped in his pallace to reunite with his loyal wife) and Theodicy which refers to an answer to the accusation against providence implied by the presence of evil in the world.

1 recall the Samson story among the Judges, he didn't see his secret, personal, familial, cultic, national, cultural, covenantal nazarite offering to God as worth maintaining more than a marketplace agreement at the barbers. In retrospect, years down the track he sees it as more precious than his eyes, and his life.

2 think through the phrases (from Matthew:) "store up riches in heaven", and (from Luke:) "not rich towards God".

*  "hesed"= transliterated Hebrew word, often translated as loyal love, mercy, covenant love, lovingkindness, steadfast love, as in "the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.." or when spoken of by a Jewish Rabbi in the Greek of the First Century, in the light of the coming and embodying of it in Yeshua, Paul of Tarsus said that "love (agape) never fails".

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