Monosyllabic orations

Ur-spo commented on the cartoon about prayer, ... it makes it difficult for me to know what/how to pray. I tend to use short succinct ones 'help' 'thanks' and 'wow' 

There is an old proverb, Brevis oratio penetrat celum -- A short prayer pierces heaven. (See Piers Plowman.)

I am also reminded of a wise old Native American we knew in Chicago, a talented fabric artist who had been an actor in his youth, Robin Whitespear. Ur-spo's remarks echo one of Robin's constant refrains: "Say one word when you get up in the morning: Help! And one word when you go to bed at night: Thanks!"

Finally, I recall a postulant telling me that he had heard that the most frequent sound heard in heaven would be that of someone suddenly enlightened: "Oh!" Not quite "wow" but close enough.

And lest we think that such brevity is unfitting converse with the Divine, I quote John of the Cross who said of God."God, in surely giving us the Son, who is God's one and only Word, spoke to us once and for all, in this single Word, and has no occasion to speak further."

What more can a believer say to that than thanks? 

And elsewhere the saint writes, “The Father spoke one Word from all eternity and he spoke it in silence  and it is in silence that we hear it."

Perhaps the most appropriate prayer is not even monosyllabic, but just