Can we pray right now?

Two men, Tobias and Dave, one white, one black, both wearing masks, one homeless and the other a small business owner, were talking on a city sidewalk at sunset. I was a third member of the conversation, contributing little but gaining so much.

As we parted, the homeless man asked a question: “Will you keep my cousin James in your prayers? He’s in the hospital, surgery on Monday … “

The business owner paused and responded with a question, a beautiful question: “Can we pray right now?”

And we prayed together, aloud, on a city sidewalk.

The homeless man asked for prayer for another cousin facing a health challenge.

And we prayed together, aloud, on a city sidewalk.

The homeless man mentioned a young man who died recently. Could we lift his family, his children, in prayer?

And we prayed together, aloud, on a city sidewalk.

And, after praying for the homeless man, we hugged and said goodbye.

When I related the story to a pastor who knows both men, she smiled and said, “Yes, (the homeless man) has a lot of cousins.”

The pastor meant that the homeless man has a lot of people he carries in prayer, cousins in the broadest definition of the word.

I treasure the image of Dave and Tobias, black and white, wearing masks, praying together, praying aloud in 2020, a time when there is so much keeping people apart.

Beyond the image, I love the question: “Can we pray right now?” I love the way the prayer, once launched, grew to embrace more people, more cousins.

One night earlier, I was with a recent high school graduate who enlisted in the U.S. Army and was leaving to begin basic training in three days. When our conversation ended, I said, “I will keep you in prayer.” And later, I asked a group of young people to lift him in prayer.

It never occurred to me, as we stood on a church lawn, footballs flying around us, to say to the young man, “Can we pray right now?”

People ask for prayer, and I say, “I will pray.” And, often, I lift an immediate silent prayer. And, later, I might add them to a shared prayer list.  I can’t remember if I’ve ever asked, “Can we pray right now?”

But I will next time.