PRAYER IN CELEBRATION OF BRIEF THINGS, FOR EXAMPLE, CHURCH SERVICES

Mayflies. Toddlers. Tree swallows. Apologies--isn't it interesting that the best and most genuine ones are short and to the point? The longer they go, the less honest they are, and the more they turn into insincere performances; see any politician's press conference ostensibly apologizing for his misbehavior, with his poor grim simmering spouse alongside for the photo op. But the brief admission of idiocy---that's delicious. My bad spoken clearly on the basketball court. The Mass that cuts to the chase and doesn't sprawl into performance art and endless self-absorbed homily. The quick wit, the bushtit, the postcard. The shorter saints like Teresa of Avila. The brief ride in the car and the short plane flight. The chapbook, the brief line at the bank, the hilarious thirty-second film clip. Young people only as tall as your knee, who generally see the world with fresher eyes and an admirable lack of agenda. Small cups of strong coffee. Small boys with short hair whose heads in the right light look exactly like peaches. Brief phone calls and electronic-mail missives that get to the point without undue blather and verbal fencing. Small sharp astonishing poems. Novellas. Pencil stubs. Tree frogs. Sandals. Brief heartfelt prayers. Like this one. And so: amen.

Brian Doyle