What follows may include prayerful sentiments and statements that you would anticipate, perhaps even hope for. But, no doubt, what follows also includes a measure of unpredictability and rawness.

One of the thoughtful suggestions that arose from an early Bent Hope focus group discussion was that I think through a meaningful way to help people process what they might be feeling as they read through the Chapters of Bent Hope. In response, I invited 23 talented and interesting people to think through and write prayers of reflection – artistis, writers, leaders and visionaries. 23 people that I greatly admire and appreciate. While they are greatly accomplished in their fields of work, art and ministry – they have been invited to write these prayers primarily because of their authenticity and ability to communicate. As much as anything, they represent parents, grandparents, friends, siblings, co-workers, neighbours, and most of all – people doing their best day to day.

The one thing I assured each writer as I invited them to participate was that I would not edit or nudge their prayers in any particular direction to speak anything other than what was on each of their hearts. Thus, some of the prayers are poetic, while others are almost crass. Some are gentle, while others are harsh. Some are very brief, while others are quite lengthy. And some look heavenwards while others seek God in the mud. But in and of themselves, each one is beautiful because of the sincerity and vulnerability found in the hearts of the writers. I am thrilled for the prayers you will find here that lift spirits, expose beauty, and bring praise to Almighty God. At the same time, I make no excuse for gladly sharing what might best seem like “bent prayers.” What could be more appropriate?

It is a great honour to be able to share these special prayers with you. I know that some readers will engage the prayers enthusiastically, while others may check in on them simply out of curiosity. Either way, my hope is that there might be something in one, several or all the prayers that resonates with the hearts and souls of those who go to them.

Tim Huff

Chapter One: A Kid and a Coffee Cup ~ John H. Wilkinson
Chapter Two: Left Hand ~ Judy and Pierre Allard
Chapter Three: Hobo Rails ~ Glen Soderholm
Chapter Four: No Jesus ~ Cheryl Bear
Chapter Five: Like Bigfoot, Like Elvis ~ Dion Oxford
Chapter Six: A Lucky Bird ~ Marla Stewart Konrad
Chapter Seven: Wolf Spoke ~ Bruxy Cavey
Chapter Eight: Either Way ~ Jacob Moon
Chapter Nine: Dynamite ~ Miller Alloway
Chapter Ten: The Last Time I Saw Ricardo ~ Sister Sue Mosteller
Chapter Eleven: Gumballs In Russia ~ Mike Janzen
Chapter Twelve: Gun ~ John McAuley
Chapter Thirteen: That One Acorn ~ Dave Toycen
Chapter Fourteen: Exquisite ~Alan Davey
Chapter Fifteen: And Still Another: The Dealmaker ~ Larry Willard
Chapter Sixteen: Choking on Lies ~ Drew Marshall
Chapter Seventeen: On Ramp Angels ~ Steve Bell
Chapter Eighteen: Shadow Jumping ~ Colin McCartney
Chapter Nineteen: Never Again ~ Adrienne Grant
Chapter Twenty: The Boy I Hated ~ Rick Tobias
Chapter Twenty-One: No One to Touch ~ Greg Paul
Chapter Twenty-Two: Five Days of Bottled Claws ~ Julia Beazley
Chapter Twenty-Three: One Pure Moment ~ Mike Frost

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