Praying

Late one evening a poor farmer on his way
back home from the market found himself
without his prayer book.

The wheel of his cart had come off right
in the middle of the woods and it distressed
him that this day should pass without his
having said his prayers.

So this is the prayer he made:
"I have done something very foolish, Lord.
I came away from home this morning
without my prayer book and my memory is such
that I cannot recite a single prayer without it.
So this is what I am going to do: I shall
recite the alphabet five times very slowly
and you, to whom all prayers are known,
can put the letters together to form
the prayers I can't remember."

And the Lord said to his angels, "Of all the
prayers I have heard today, this one was
undoubtedly the best because it came
from a heart that was simple and sincere."

(A Hasidic Tale)