Rainey Blogs on Some Days

 I’ve been a practicing Christian my entire adult life, and one would think that would result in a certain level of proficiency in certain practices such as what often occurs when one plays golf, tennis, or does various other activities on a regular basis. Prayer is not like this for me though. Prayer is like whack-a-mole. As soon as I knock down a mole that pops up--some sort of obstacle to my praying--another mole rises in its place. "Whack-a-mole" is exactly how I would describe my prayer life, a daily whacking away at things that prevent prayer.

Recently I picked a little French restaurant in the NoHo section of New York City for us to go to on my birthday called Le Philosophe . It turned out to be quite an ironic choice, albeit an accidental one. Earlier in the same week, I had attended my daughter's middle school soccer game in Haledon, New Jersey. I arrived in the second half to find our team well ahead and to find the other team with two players on the other wearing Islamic headscarves, including the goalkeeper. (I am uncertain if there is any connection to the headscarves and our soccer victory.) I do not recall thinking to myself, "Well, if we were in France, I don't think they would be doing that!" although earlier in the year I had read the first chapter of a book called Why the French Don't Like Headscarves , which is about the ban on Islamic women from wearing the hijab , or headscarves, in France. I guess it turns out that having a secular society doesn't necessarily correspond to havin...

I posted a picture of this church's sign below in December, 2009, which announced that they were "air conditioned" despite snow on the ground (and frigid temperatures!). I noticed in late January, 2010, that they have changed the sign to announce that they are "prayer conditioned," a clever response.   The original picture, which I think is self-explanatory. You might also be interested in attending Leonia's first Montessori Church .