I often find that the simple seemingly chance experiences of our ordinary days have a way of opening us to new understanding.

I had such an experience in October while I was in Florida attending a meeting. One morning I left my hotel for a walk along the deserted beach. In my hand I had held my Russian Orthodox Prayer Rope - a knotted cord made of black wool. As I walked along at water's edge I caught a glimpse of a man approaching the beach on the side path. He looks Middle Eastern, I thought, and felt ashamed having fallen victim to the very paranoia that I, since September 11, have been quick to condemn in others.

Soon he was by my side.

"Are you reading," he asked.

"I'm praying," I replied.

"Are you Muslim?"

I told him, "I am a Christian."

"What do you pray?"

"I pray the Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

He persisted. "What happens when you pray?"

I thought for a moment. "When I pray, I pray that I may be made one with Christ."

He told me then that his father had used a string of beads similar to my cord as a stimulus to prayer.

"And what was his prayer," I asked.

"He prayed 'Allah, Allah, Allah'."

"And what happened when he prayed."

"Well," he said, "His heart was purified and he was made one with God."

A deep joy welled up within me as I recognised the profound unity of our prayer regardless of our different paths. The sun was well up by now and it was time for me to turn back. As he walked down the beach I felt a tremendous grace had been given to me in the encounter. My fear had been transformed in friendship and a sense of brotherhood. All of this says to me that prayer helps tremendously in dealing with the charged atmosphere in which we find ourselves as a result of the evil visited upon us on September 11. So many emotions are at work within us: sadness, anger, grief, fear and for some, alas, a desire for revenge. We are left searching for firm ground to stand upon. Prayer provides that ground because it roots us in the all embracing mercy and compassion of God, which is at the heart and center of all that is real. So I hope that our prayer in these days works in us a globalisation of the spirit, such that our safety is irrevocably linked with the safety and wellbeing of the world and all God's people.

Article from: "Pause for thought" BBC Radio 2 11th March 2002