September 5, 2021 — It feels like we’ve referenced prayer here a lot lately. Maybe because prayer can be so comforting. Maybe because there’s just an overwhelming number of hurting people to pray for and challenges to pray about.

What draws us back to the subject again today is this beautifully moving email we received from Cardie Paige Baker. “Prayers for Jamie” was her subject line, and attached was this photo that she’d thoughtfully snapped before sealing the envelope.

In her message, Paige explained, “My dear friend Jamie has just passed from cancer. Her children — my godchildren — feel so wounded. While this card won’t cure cancer or restore families, it will let this one know they are not alone.

“You know,” Paige mused, “we always say to people, ‘What can I do? Let me know what you need.’ Yet no one can really do anything more than light a candle and say a prayer. That’s why this card is so perfect.”

Then Paige shared a prayerful little practice of her own. “Wherever I travel,” she explained, “I always find my way to the most cherished Catholic churches. I attend mass there, then light a candle for my children … in Rome, Milan, Paris, Athens, all the places I’ve felt so fortunate to visit.

“As I’m lighting the candle, my husband Bill will take my picture to send to our grown kids so they know their parents are in a cathedral somewhere lighting prayer candles for them. ‘Nothing beats those photo messages from Mom!’”

For Jewish families of faith, a cherished time for sharing prayers and meals begins tomorrow evening with Rosh Hashanah. As we wish Jewish members of our cardie community Shana Tova (a good year), we want to share this timeless and powerful prayer often chanted during the Rosh Hashanah service.

When I sent a draft of this story to Paige, asking her permission to share it with you, here is her amazing-Paige response. “Altogether lovely, thank you. Our family may be Catholic, but the Old Testament — and prayer — belong to all of us and bring us in unity with our Jewish brothers and sisters,” she wrote. “God is good.”🙏🙏

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative