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Page 4 ~ Shelton-Mason County Journal ‘ Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023
woman in our neigh—
borhood many years
go was getting treat-
ment for lung cancer. I saw
her walking along the side-
walk in front of the house
one day — she was getting
chemotherapy or radiation, I
can’t remember which ~ and
she looked weary. We talked
for five minutes in front of the
driveway.
She was a wonderful wom—
an, full of that rare combina-
tion of optimism and contrari-
anism that’s hard to maintain
over a life. At the end of our
chat, she had a question.
“Could you say a prayer for
me?”
Um.
I told her that was my
wife’s department, but I did
say I’d be thinking of her of-
ten. She smiled and off she
went.
Mrs. Ericson was in the
living room, and I told her
about the encounter. My
wife’s been a Buddhist since
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SHELTON-MASON COUNTY
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THESE
TIMES
her teens, and I’m not clear
how Buddhists pray, or
whether “prayer” even exists
in Buddhism. But I figured
it couldn’t hurt to have well~
wishes for the ailing woman
coming from a variety of di-
mensions: Protestants, Cath-
olics, Muslims, Jews, Bud~
dhists and whatever I am.
I did hope the woman
recovered, and if hope is a
secular prayer, I said many
prayers for her. But I can’t
bring myself to perform the
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get—on-your—knees brand of
prayer. I haven’t done it in
years, so I’m out of practice
anyway, I could have screwed
it up and caused something
really awful to happen.
This illness matter arose
a few years later when I re-
ceived an email from a friend
who had an “unexpected sur—
gery” and was recovering at
St. Peter Hospital in Olym~
pia. She was doing OK, but
she asked to send prayers
and love her way.
I called the woman, and
she sounded great, because
she is great. She’s engaging
and intelligent. We talked
a bit about her illness, her
condition and her progno—
sis, and then I brought up
her prayer request. I said I
hadn’t prayed for her — tech—
nically — but I had thought
several times about her get—
ting better, if that counts.
She laughed and said she was
grateful for the thoughts.
Which bring us to this: I
know the moment of my most
recent prayer — actually,
semi—prayer. It was June 28,
2004, the day our second son
was born. He came out of the
chute with the cord wrapped
around his neck, and he was
hustled over to a nearby plat-
form that’s set up for new-
borns if there’s a problem. I
believe they’re called crash
carts.
He wasn’t breathing.
Within 15 seconds, four
people were hovering over
him, clearing out his mouth
and nostrils, doing CPR,
operating a breathing bag,
monitoring his Vitals. A doc-
tor appeared from offstage to
orchestrate it all. Commands
and responses flew among the
assembled.
Thirty seconds in, a nurse
said, “No pulse.”
I started praying. As I
imagined it, it would be one
of those conditional prayers.
If you spare my child, I’ll do
whatever you want. I began
GRATEFUL WE'RE
FICIALLY OUT OF
THE DROUGHT.
0%
I THINK I'M
OF
0
Publisher:
John Lester
Advertising:
Newsroom:
Justin Johnson, Editor
Matt Baide, Reporter
Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter
Theresa Murray, Ad Representative
Gordon Weeks, Reporter
Kirk Ericson, Columnist/ Proofreader
Front office:
Dave Pierik, Office Administrator
Karen Hranac, Customer Service
Delivery:
Jon Garza
David Olson
Niel Challstrom
Design:
Kim Fowler, Graphics Design
Linda Frizzell, Special Projects
Shawna Whelan, Photographer
to produce the prayer in my
mind: “God, if you save my
child then ...”
At that moment, Ryan
David Ericson cried, the best
sound ofa lifetime. I stopped
praying and returned to life
in progress. The worst and
best moments in my life oc-
curred within 60 seconds.
Maybe Ryan returning
from the dead was an act of
god, if it exists, or an act of
medicine, or perhaps both.
Maybe it was Ryan’s choice.
Maybe it was because of
my prayer, and maybe god
stirred him before I got to
the commitment part be-
cause an omnipotent being
should know how one of its
employees would complete a
thought.
What is for certain,
though, is just how thin the
cord is that attaches us to
this life.
I Contact Kirk Ericson at
lairkéitmasoncounty.c0m
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