One of the things I love about Ghana is that all meetings start and end with a prayer. Northern Ghana is a very peaceful mix of Muslim and Christian, so these prayers may be to either Allah or the Christian God with which I am more familiar. Either, or, the entire group of meeting attendees joins together in prayer. I love this idea. There are many times where I have almost asked for a prayer in my work meetings. Attending a minimum of three church meetings a week, which I have been doing way longer than I have been attending work meetings, it is somewhat habitual to do so. It is needless to say that I have been in many work-related meetings in Canada which could have benefited from some structure or guidance from a higher power. Nevertheless, I find that the process of getting someone to pray in a meeting is very amusing. Not the way that it is done, but rather, that it mirrors the exact same process that occurs when teaching Sunday School.
Meeting Chair: Can I have a volunteer for prayer?
<Silence. People look down or out the window.>
After some silence or more prodding by the chair, someone usually prays, or volunteers someone else to pray.
Friday’s dialogue went like this:
Director: Can I have a volunteer for prayer?
<Silence>
Director: We need to start this meeting, so we need a volunteer to prayer.
<Silence>
Director: Remember, you receive more blessings when you pray. Nobody wants blessings?
And then someone eventually rises: “Let us pray.”
Every time, I sit their smiling, or perhaps more accurately grinning, while chuckling in my head. Whether it is a room full of giggling 8 year olds, or senior government officials, getting someone to say the opening prayer is always a challenge.
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