Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth

This is a month in which many take time to be thankful. Oh, we could do that every month, but thankfully we focus our thankfulness into one month each year, in November. Sometimes in challenging times, we get mired in all that is not so good and need to be reminded to pay attention to small blessings and whisper “thank you, God.”

I whispered, “thank you, God,” when I discovered this beautiful book Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood and illustrated by P. J. Lynch. This story about a young boy learning about the sacredness of all creation from his grandfather, is an inspirational reminder of how simple and uplifting prayer can be. Prayer is often its own answer…we pray because we are here – not to change the world, but to change ourselves.

This story is the author’s story about his treasured memories of walks with his grandfather. Douglas Wood actually invited the illustrator to spend time with him on an island in Rainy Lake, in northern Minnesota. P.J. Lynch’s illustrations were inspired by the beautiful landscapes surrounding all the walks the two men shared revisiting all the places Wood had been with his grandfather. The result are illustrations that enhance the emotion and sentiments that a grandfather shared with his grandson, creating a very special bond between the two of them.

Have you ever thought about how the whole of creation is in prayer to their creator? Trees pray reaching for the sky, reaching for heaven. What else is a prayer but reaching for heaven. What about rocks and pebbles and boulders, still and silent? Still and silent are two important ways to pray. In our story Grandfather shows his grandson how all of nature has its own unique ways to pray we can all learn how every part of creation, all of nature, living and breathing have their own unique ways of offering a prayer to the creator.

We follow the grandson through a difficult time of loss when his grandfather dies. No matter how hard the grandson prayed over and over his grandfather, of course, didn’t come back. He couldn’t come back. The world seemed dark and lonely. The grandson couldn’t pray anymore and he didn’t for a long time.

What brought this young man back to a closeness to his grandfather even in his absence? My prayer is that this book will resonate with that God space within you. I encourage you to check this book out this month and share it with someone you love.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments below :).