you got to pray just to make it today

I'm currently in the painting studio at Columbia. There are two Asian students directly across from me. They just sat down to enjoy some take out but before they did so, they prayed... really awkwardly and really quietly. I think I make the assumption that living in NYC, people of different ethnicities practice a religion other than Christianity. While this may be true in many cases, it is never always true. Maybe it was also weird because I sat down to eat at the same time, and I didn't stop to pray. Maybe it was also weird because I can't remember the last time I prayed without being called upon to do so.

the last time I prayed was last week. There was a group of McAfee students volunteering at Metro. We all went out to dinner and one of the students asked me to pray for our food. I immediately responded with "We don't pray here." They thought I was joking and everyone laughed. But I wasn't really joking. When I quickly said the same prayer that I said at every meal with my family growing up, I realized I really don't pray anymore.