Nothing focuses the mind
quite like fear
and sometimes I think
that my best praying is done
when I’m in the dentist’s chair.

I lie back in the chair
and close my eyes
choosing not to see
any inordinately long needle
that my dentist might need.
And I begin to pray.

I pray that if I need injections
the needle may not hit a nerve
this time.

I pray that this may not be painful
and that, if it is painful,
that it may be bearable.

I pray that I may not groan
(a dental assistant once held my hand
when I groaned …
and I just died of embarrassment!)

I pray for the Holy Spirit
to guide the hands of the dentist
as he deftly manipulates the drill.

I pray and I pray.
Nothing distracts me –
no thoughts about work
or plans for tonight’s dinner.
This is highly concentrated prayer.

At last, my ordeal is over
and I rise from the dentist’s chair
with a quick, relieved,
“Thank you, Lord!”
only realising now, when I relax,
how tense I have been.

But I can’t help thinking –
isn’t it a pity
that it seems to take the dentist’s chair
for me to give my full attention
to My God?

© Claire Murray, 16th December 2015