The morning started with a pocket notebook in a coat pocket and no great feeling of readiness.

I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next.

Prayer is often smaller than the language people build around it. It can be a few honest words said before the day starts collecting noise.

There was still work to do afterward. That may be the point. A prayer that returns a person to his duties has not failed him.