PRAYER

Here I am O Lord and here is my prayer:
Please be there.
Don't want to ask too much, miracles and such—
Just whisper in the air: please be there.
When I die like other folks,
Don't want to find out You're a hoax.
So I'm not on my knees asking for world peace
Or that the polar icecap freeze
And save the polar bear
Or even that the poor be fed
Or angels hover o'er my bed
But I sure will be pissed
If I should have been an atheist.
O Lord, please exist.

—Garrison Keillor