Prayers Plainly Spoken - 4

Hauerwas introduces his prayer, No Rose Garden, but How About Some Daises?, with these words: 'I wrote this prayer in response to a particularly egregious act by a member of the divinity school community that brought shame on the school'.

'WIERD LORD, you never promised us a rose garden, but right now we could use a few daises or zinnias. We feel confused, unsure of where we are, angry because a wrong has been done, and we are unsure who to blame. It ought to be somebody's fault, but even the one who is to blame is so pathetic it hardly seems worth the effort [!!!!!]... Work on us to make us a community of truthfulness' (84).

Well, I thought that was really funny!