Imagine you are in your favourite place, the instructions for the prayer read. Perhaps it is on a beach or in a cosy cabin. What do you see, hear, feel, taste, smell? Are you alone or with others? After you have relaxed there for a while, picture Jesus entering the scene. Let the Holy Spirit take it from there and see what unfolds.

I put down my cup of tea and settled myself cross-legged on the couch in the afternoon sun. Heidi was napping in her crib and Rudy at kindergarten.

I closed my eyes and pictured myself at the bow of Kimmeridge, the twenty-seven foot sailboat we used to own. Fred was at the helm and our little ones asleep. The gentle winds filled the mainsail and jib; the night sky was clear and the salt air cool. I zipped up my fleece and rested my forearms on the lifelines. My bare feet dangled over the side not far from the water. The only sounds came from the slosh of the waves and ting-ting of the rigging.

I was alone and then I wasn’t. Jesus, looking like he did in the pictures with long hair and a white robe, sat right beside me.

I swallowed, took a deep breath and said, “Hi.”

“Hello,” he said. “Nice night.”

“Yes, it is.”

This was my big chance. I could ask Jesus anything I wanted. I looked up at the Big Dipper and the pockmarked moon. I remembered that Jesus was with God in the beginning and that through him all things were created.

“What were you thinking about when you made the moon and the stars?” I asked.

“What was I thinking about?” Jesus turned to face me. “I was thinking of the night you and I would be sitting here together looking at them.”

My heart thumped in my throat and a tear slid down my cheek. I never guessed he was going to say that.

When I opened my eyes, the world was as it was before. My tea was still warm and Heidi still asleep. Would she notice when she woke up? And when I picked up Rudy from school or welcomed Fred home from work, would they see that I was not the same person I was when they left?

 On the wings of the wind, You did come.
-Psalm 18:10
Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill

Credits and references:
Night Sailing by Ian Hoar.
John 1: 1-3
Night Sky by Jessica Gardner. Used with permission.
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2014.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013, 2014  http://www.estherhizsa.wordpress.com.