We were from different denominations but it didn’t matter at all.

              Our cruise ship was at sea. Had it been in port, some of us may have been able to find the church we normally attend.

              But it wasn’t so we didn’t. Instead, about 80 of us gathered in a room sometimes used for auctions and sometimes used for party games and sometimes used for dances.

              A little cross stood on a little table with a Bible next to it and when it was time to start, an employee came to the front and asked if there were any pastors in the room who’d like to run the program.

              After an awkward pause, one casually dressed man volunteered. I’m not a pastor but I’ve been to church a lot, he said.

              And he got up to lead.

              A program had been outlined and we sang together at times and we read together at times.

              Then the program called for a prayer and he asked if anyone had a specific need that we should pray for.

              After another awkward pause, another casually dressed man raised his hand. I assumed he would share a personal concern.

              I met a woman on the plane coming here, he said. I don’t know her name, but she was on the first leg of our journey. When we arrived at the first stop and were about to make our connections, she received word that her son had died. She was devastated and had to return home to deal with her loss. Could we pray for her?

              He didn’t know her name. She wouldn’t know about a small group on a big ship seeking divine help on her behalf. But could we pray for her? It was the only way to help.

              Then someone suggested we pray that peace would be restored between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza.

Then someone asked if we could pray for those who were working on the ship, and that our passage would be blessed with safety.

Then a woman made a personal request. Could we pray for her? She had been sober for three years, she said, but it was really hard for her to be on the ship where there was so much alcohol being served.

              Then someone asked us to pray for the upcoming generation and those in it who have lost their faith and, in what they said appears to be a result, developed anxieties. Our temporary pastor asked people to raise their hands if their children had left their religion. Almost every hand went up.

              And our substitute pastor led a prayer, asking on our behalf, very sincerely and in great detail, to help the people we see in passing, the people who serve us, the people we love, the people we don’t even know.

              And then we sang some more.

              I went to many programs during that trip, both on and off the ship. We heard from naturalists, guides, pilots and rangers. We saw museums, national parks and historical sights.

              That meeting taught me the most.

This column appeared in the Davis Journal of Davis County in September 2024.