If you sit down and you start writing, it's like getting in very cold water and you're in. You might as well paddle around for a minute. - Anne Lamott

Prayer is talking to something or anything with which we seek union, even if we are bitter or insane or broken. (In fact, these are probably the best possible conditions under which to pray.) Prayer is taking a chance that against all odds and past history, we are loved and chosen, and do not have to get it together before we show up. The opposite may be true: We may not be able to get it together until after we show up in such miserable shape.

How are we going to get through this craziness?' I asked. There was silence for a moment.
'Left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe,' he said.

Oh, thank you for keeping me alive as a child, but I won't be needing you right now. I'm in the middle of something.