Article April 21, 2003 Issue

My prayer on the road to Alexandria

By Susan E. Omar

We were driving along the highway from Cairo to Alexandria, Egypt, with about two hours to go. My sister-in-law was listlessly fingering her prayer beads. I was next to her in the backseat, trying to think about these words from Science and Health: "Spiritual sense is the discernment of spiritual good" (p. 505).

I read that sentence over and over, but my thoughts felt heavy and gray, like the rain clouds over the desert landscape we were passing through. The words seemed empty, and I read them without inspiration.

At one point, I noticed that my sister-in-law was shivering, even though it was warm in the car. When I covered her with my coat, she said, in her unique combination of Arabic and broken English, that she didn't feel well.

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