Giving thanks, for example, is not about congratulating ourselves for our good luck: Lamott is, as usual, funny and self-deprecating: "People always told me, 'You've got to get a thicker skin,' like now they might say jovially, 'Let go and let God.' Believe me, if I could, I would, and in the meantime I feel like stabbing you in the forehead." But that relates to her real point about prayer - in its best and purest form it takes us way past our own petty concerns. the good china of prayers" prescribed by organized religions. Her focus is on genuine communication, rather than the "beautifully pre-assembled prayers. She breaks prayers down into the three categories of the title: supplication, gratitude and awe. It is communication from the heart to that which passes understanding." Prayer is private, even when we pray with others. "It's not for display purposes, like plastic sushi or neon. "You may in fact be wondering what I even mean when I use the word 'prayer.' It's certainly not what TV Christians mean," she writes. It's a series of meditations on the nature of prayer, from Lamott's iconoclastic, ecumenical point of view: Help Thanks Wow is small enough to slip into a bag and short enough to read in a sitting, although it would repay thoughtful reading.
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