On being a godmother

I'm beginning to think that this whole godparent thing isn't just for the child (or convert). For me, the responsibility to pray for my godchild everyday has helped me take my daily prayers that much more seriously. I find I'm praying even more regularly for my own family, for my extended family, as well as for my godson (to be) and for his family.

Mara and I went to the Orthodox bookstore and she was looking at the prayer ropes. I tried to get her to say the Jesus Prayer for the knots, but she didn't want to. Then, Mr. P, one of the proprietors, modeled it for her (and also for me). He prayed, "Lord have mercy on me, Lord have mercy on Tamara, Lord have mercy on Mara." And just as I've been impacted by the overall simplicity and depth of the Jesus Prayer and all it means, I was touched at the simplicity and depth of that short (demonstration of a) prayer on behalf of me and my daughter.

I was raised with these huge elaborate prayers that had to be off the cuff--intercessory prayers. The Jesus Prayer, and the Jesus Prayer for someone else, is such a departure from the pressure of praying for others and for myself. It gives me a pattern, a model, and a feasible means of including all the people on my list. I don't mean to compare my little prayers to a true intercessor's, but I do not feel myself to be an actual intercessor (in the way it was taught as I was growing up). So, maybe my little prayers aren't nearly as powerful as those of an intercessor, but I do think that regularly praying the little prayers is a step up from trying to pray intercessory-type prayers (in the way I was taught as I was growing up) only every once in a while, when I could muster up the courage to try again.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord have mercy on Cade and Mara.
Lord have mercy on my family and Cade's family.
Lord have mercy on Mara's godparents and godsiblings.
Lord have mercy on my godson (to be) and on his parents.