The attack on the twin towers of 9-11 had Claire Coleman making a list of all the people she knew who were missing and praying for them. After a few days it became apparent that not one had survived. However, even when she knew that, she couldn’t bear to tear up that list. Instead she used it as a reminder to pray for each victim’s shocked and grieving loved ones.
That September day only brought into focus what Coleman had been taught from a child—the importance of caring for others and the power of God to work in lives when we pray. These two convictions are the foundation of her book Special Intentions: Remembering Others in Personal Prayer.
The book is made up of an Introduction (where the author tells the story of how the book came to be written and how to use it) followed by ten chapters. Each chapter consists of portraits of people types to pray for (a sample of titles: “The Black Sheep of the Family,” “The Soldier,” “The Child of an Alcoholic,” “Victims of Persecution,” and about 190 more). The portraits are presented as free verse poems, one per page. The book ends with five lined pages for personal notes.
The book is really not meant to be read through quickly but taken in one page at a time, perhaps one a day, as a reminder to pray for the group of people described.
Why would we do this? Coleman acknowledges that praying for people one doesn’t know may not reward us in tangible ways. But she explains it as an extension, into the realm of prayer, of the caring we do for other human beings whether we’re rewarded or not.
Coleman’s writing style is simple, clear, and straightforward. Though the entries look like poems, they are not ambiguous or pretentious (In fact, the varied look of each page invites the eye to read in a way that solid chunks of prose wouldn’t.) I found the compassionate thoughts presented in her empathetic tone reminded me of comfort food. For example:
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