the business of answering prayers [poem]

when we sit around the table
hands clasped in prayer to your Christian God
what does He hear?
my pagan heart feels the words
head bowed in reverence
as we give our collective thanks for life
and I say amen
just like you
does God dislike the prayers of pagans?
does His love extend
to those who speak gratitude into the evening light
or does He close His ears
to the words of unwanted heathens
and those who dare to stand beside them?
I’d like to think His love is
too great to be limited by our arbitrary labels
that God listens to my prayers
just like Hera
or Odin
or Ra
because I am a prayerful person
and God is in the business of answering prayers
from those with hearts open enough to speak them