Good morning, and what a privilege it is to join you at the beginning of Faith in the World Week. I think it’s so important, in these tense times, to come together to share something of our faith with others.

One of the things that most faiths share is the idea of prayer. And prayer can be very unpredictable. I love the Jewish story of the rabbi and the taxi driver who leave this world on the same day and arrive together at the gates of heaven. The rabbi was a distinguished scholar. The taxi driver was, well, shall we say, a little impetuous. Yet the angel at the gate of heaven signalled the taxi driver to enter, but not the Rabbi. How can that be, said the rabbi. I’m a great scholar. He’s just a taxi driver. The angel looked at the rabbi and said: Simple. When you spoke, people fell asleep. But when he drove, believe me, they prayed.

Prayer is one of those human instincts that seems to defy logic. Scientists tell us that we are just a concatenation of chemicals, a bundle of selfish genes, dust on the surface of infinity. To which I’m inclined to say, in the immortal words of Sir Humphrey, up to a point, Minister.

Because we are also the only known life form in the universe that prays. We know that God is more distant than the furthest star. But he is also closer to us than we are to ourselves. When we speak, he listens. When we cry, he hears. When we call, he answers. When we fail, he forgives.

Many times in my life I’ve felt as if I were drowning. And then something happened. It was as if I raised my hand and God caught hold of it and lifted me to safety so that I could breathe again. So long as we don’t let go of God, he doesn’t let go of us. That’s prayer. It may not change the world, but it changes us, giving us the strength to continue, and the courage to try again. Where prayer lives, hope can never die.

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