Brennan Manning never ceases to amaze me with his beautiful stories. This one is found in his book, “Abba’s Child”. It’s about a dying old man who tells the priest who came to give him the Last Rites about how he learned to pray. For years, he didn’t know how to pray till his friend suggested this. Since prayer is just a matter of conversation with Jesus, he told him to sit down on the chair, place an empty chair in front of him, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. “It’s not spooky because He promised, I’ll be with you all days. Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.” He tried it and he liked it so much that he continued to do it a couple of hours each day. The priest was deeply moved by the story. Two days later his daughter informed the priest of her father’s death. She told the priest that when she found him dead, there was something strange, even weird. She said, “Apparently just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside his bed”. Previously, Brennan was writing about John, the disciple that Jesus loved, who laid his head on Jesus’ breast and heard the heartbeat of the Rabbi.