As a teenager it really creeped me out when somebody would tell me, "I'm praying for you." I didn't know what they were praying for. I was doing my best to be a good kid already.

I kind of felt like they were this preying mantis I found at my window today. He comes every October to prey for me. He is consistent and preys without ceasing.

For the past two years I have shared some of his preying photos each October but this year was his best pose yet. He sat right in front of my window with his hands folded in prayer. I don't have much of a lens on my phone but as long as the subject was this patient to allow me to take his picture then I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass by.

I was relieved that this guy comes back year after to year to prey for me. As the nights get cold the insects try to get in the building but my little friend here won't let them get in. He put on the full armor and stands his ground. He is alert and always preying.

This is not the only friend that came to visit. I've been virtually chillin' this Saturday through messenger with family and Zoom with an old friend from Sweden. We had a good time talking about old times.

Now I think back at all the people who said they are "praying for me" when I was a kid. I am very grateful for them. I don't know if it was their prayers exactly but something deep down inside tells me it was.

Among them was an even older friend who taught Children's church in the schools in the time before Engel vs. Vitale. After World War 2, he wandered the the hills of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. He and his wife went from school to school and taught a Children's Church lesson with puppets and singing. I met them thirty-five years later and they were still awesome. But the one thing I remember most about this saint is whenever he saw me pass his house he would shout out my name and then he would say, "I'm praying for you!"

At first I saw him working at the garden with his wife. Then his wife was sick and he worked the garden alone. Then he was kneeling at the garden in tears. Then he was in a wheel chair alone still trying to get his wife's daffodils to bloom. No matter how many years past he called out my name and shouted, "I'm praying for you."

Now I hear the echo from my friend in the window sill. In his silence Mantis calls out:

I'm praying for you
I always have
I never left your side
You were so clever

but weak to the enemy
I knew that and prayed
I never gave up
By your side I stayed

Half way around the world
The song is still the same
I am praying for you

Your friend,

Mantis

Should I invite Mantis in for a cup of tea?