WE WERE STRATEGIZING ABOUT WHERE TO GO FOR DINNER—my practitioner friend and I—when her phone rang. It was clear from her tone that the person on the other end of the line was a patient, asking for prayer. I dutifully picked up a magazine and busied myself with reading until they'd finished their conversation.
Of course, I didn't know who was on the other end of the line and heard none of the details, but I couldn't miss the practitioner's final comment as she hung up the phone: "Gratitude and love, honey. Just fill your heart with gratitude and love. And God will do the rest."
We'd returned to our discussion when the phone rang again. Another patient, another magazine break. Again, the parting words "gratitude and love." After this happened a third time, I couldn't help myself. "I don't know how much you're charging," I joked, "but it's got to be too much!"
