Praying in the shower

One of the many things hanging on the bulletin board by my desk at school is an episode of Lynn Johnson's comic strip "For Better or For Worse." This particular clipping contains a series of images outlining an average day for 15-year-old April Patterson. In one frame she is reading a book in class, in another she's eating lunch in the cafeteria, and in a third she's playing basketball outside with some friends. Each scene includes April's thought bubble, which is focused on her Grandpa Jim. The final frame portrays April looking out the school bus window on her way home, with a thought bubble that says, "The nice thing about praying is that you can do it anywhere."

This concept caught up with me at the HELM Leadership Fellows Conference this past November in Washington, D.C. During one of our sessions, we were having discussions within smaller groups about faith challenges facing college students today. I brought up the fact that I have been struggling lately to find time for prayer; within an enormously busy schedule, I am sometimes hard pressed (and I'm not alone in this) to have the time to eat and sleep, much less to slow myself down enough to talk to God.

A fellow HELM scholar immediately jumped in to say, "I know what you mean. And, I have found it really helpful to pray whenever I'm in between things. When I'm walking to class or on my way home from dinner, I just say a little 'hello' to God. I give thanks, I share my thoughts, and then I feel a bit better focused toward my day. You don't always have to kneel beside your bed, bow your head, and pour out your entire soul all at once. That type of prayer is certainly important - but sometimes it's an even better way of praying to express yourself a little bit at a time whenever you can."

I was reminded of my comic strip right away, and I smiled. Then I had a flashback to a high school camp counselor who was talking with the girls of Cabin 4 during an evening devotional. She told us that her prayer time each day was when she was in the shower. Morning or night, she would take those five or ten minutes of every day to focus on God - on her life; on the things for which she was grateful and the things about which she was worried; on the people she loved and her hopes for the future.

As busy college students - and as people of faith in a world and a society that is more and more driven by an increased pace of life - we can give ourselves permission to stay in touch with God in bits at a time. We are able to breathe out the stress and breathe in the Holy Spirit on the way to class or to an important meeting, or while standing in the shower; and that's all it takes to get connected to God. But, it's important to discipline ourselves to take more time, as well. Sometimes we need to "kneel beside the bed, bow our heads, and pour out our souls." We need to go to church. We need to find ways to pray and to praise in a group, through worship and scripture, through the songs we sing and the love we share.

We have to keep working to center ourselves, whether in bits at a time or all at once. Both ways of praying are truly valuable. It is okay to talk to God whenever we're able during busy times in life. It's also important to make time and look for new ways to get connected - to walk a labyrinth or climb to the top of a skyscraper or sit under a tree, whatever fits our spirit and fills our soul. Once we slow down and breathe, we are better able to focus, more ready to serve others and serve God.