In my own little corner in my own little house...

...I can be whatever I want to be. That line is from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Cinderella written for TV. The corner of her own little house is really a chair by the fireplace, as seen in the picture on the right. Cinderella was televised in February of 1965. And I remember seeing it with my mother. I had anticipated that evening for many days and it did not disappoint. Funny, touching, and oh-so romantic to an 11 year old girl. I aspired to be Cinderella Lesley Ann Warren in lots of ways--to have an impossibly long neck a la Audrey Hepburn, to sing like a bird, and to have Stuart Damon--1965 style--find my shoe, find my house, and find my foot. Instead, I have a neck around which a clerical stole sometimes hangs; I have a choir-okay voice, but not for soloing, and there's been no man who has my shoe to come knocking at my door. At least I didn't hear him knocking if he did.
Here's the song from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kX9JwQOtjU&feature=related

I do have something in common with this Cinderella though. I too have my own little corner in my own little house. It's my prayer place, on the lanai outside the sliding glass doors from my bedroom. When it is beautiful weather like it is today, I open up my glass doors and leave them that way, since screens are on the side that keep out the bugs (right side of pic.) I can also open the doors which are on the long hallway on the left of the photo--that long wall is all windows and sliding doors. Chairs, table, painting, lamp, yellow pillow are all from River Market Antiques. The quilt over the right chair is the small quilt that my mother made from scraps of fabric left over from clothes she had made for all of us. This was a gift to my dad to have to wrap up in on the couch. On the top of the table, today when I took this pic, were the leftovers from breakfast, a bible and a hymnal on top, along with the ever present three bright daisies. The bottom shelf of the table held these books: The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson; Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado; Preaching and Reading the Lectionary by D. Wesley Allen; Poetry as Spiritual Practice by Robert Howell; and The Song by Calvin Miller. On the floor next to the left chair, is a basket Cana made for a 4-H project 10 years ago, and under the right chair you will see our cat Danger's big behind. This space I show you feels holy to me; I pray there most every day and search the scripture. I remember poets from years ago and write some of my own poetry and think about blog entries. And I remember dresses my mother made me and the loveliness of the love my mother and father shared. It is a sacred place.

Do you have a place where you pray everyday? I try to pray in the car like lots of folks say they do, but my mind starts wandering because of all the stimulation around me. I sometimes pray before I get out of bed in the morning, but to be honest, part of the reason is so that I can lie in bed a little longer. This space outside my bedroom makes it for me.

I have begun asking my pastors when I have been visiting with them at their church, if they are praying everyday. They say yes, which is of course the RIGHT answer. Most all probably are praying every day, and are praying even at this moment, especially those who have waited to come up with a sermon until Saturday.

Do I ask them to pray because I want them to? Well, okay, yeah. But more importantly I want them to be attentive to their own little corner of their own hearts where that desire dwells to be with God, and to hear Jesus' words anew and to spill their guts before the Lord. We may never become just anything we want to be, as Cinderella sings, but we can become far more than we can ask or imagine by the grace of God. In my own little corner, that is my prayer today.