sirowitz: how to pray

Don't pray for material things,
Mother said, like a new football helmet.
God doesn't like that. Save Him
for bigger things, like if one of us
gets very sick. The way to get
on His good side is to ask for
general things, like health & happiness.
And tell Him he doesn't have to give them
to you now, you'll take them in the future.


How to Pray
by Hal Sirowitz
from Mother Said (Poems)
(Crown Publishers, 1996)