As the title suggest, she considers three prayers particularly
important. The first is, “Help.” Praying “Help” is a way to admit we don’t
have the answers or power to solve a problem.
We let go and trust that something bigger has good answers and power to
achieve good results, even if it is not exactly what we want. I see in this prayer not just a reaching out
for aid, but a practice of humility. It is amazing how near we can find God to be
when we are humble.
I have written elsewhere that I consider gratitude
to be essential to a happy life. Lamott’s
second prayer is, “Thanks.” It is an important courtesy to thank those
who help us, and if you seem to receive mysterious, improbable help from
strangers, or no human agent at all, maybe a prayer of thanks would be in
order. Lamott suggests that we pray our
thanks even when we don’t get what we want.
We should be thankful
things were not worse. We should be
thankful that things are somehow okay even though we didn’t get what we want,
even though something bad happened.
Gratitude is a path to peace and character.
The final prayer is, “Wow.” It
is an expression of wonder and awe.
Sometimes we experience something that blows us away: the beauty of
nature and art,
the love of
others, the changes we see in ourselves, and other wonders. Wow is a great prayer because it shows we can
still sense and appreciate the amazing things around us.
As I mentioned, the book is personal.
It is not a detailed autobiography. She tells enough of a story to illustrate a
point, often that life sucks sometimes, and moves on. The book has a very informal, conversational
tone. Lamott doesn’t come across as
someone making an argument for the importance of prayer, she is simply talking
about something that is important to her and explaining why she finds in
meaningful.
