Sadie was a Reuters journalist. One year, she was assigned to their Jerusalem office and her apartment overlooked the Wailing Wall. On her first morning, as she was getting ready to go to the office, she looked out her window and saw an old man praying vigorously, his head bobbing up and down rapidly. So Sadie, seeing an interesting story in the making, went down to talk to him.
Sadie asked him, “How often do you come here to pray?”
“Every day,” he replied. “I have come here to pray on this spot every day for the last 20 years.”
“You come every day to the wall? What are you praying for?” Sadie asked.
The old man replies,” I pray for peace in this angry world in the morning. Then I go home, have my lunch, and come back in the afternoon. Then I pray for a world free of illness and disease.”
Sadie is amazed. “How do you feel coming here every day for 20 years and praying for these things?” she asks.
The old man looks at her sadly. “Like I’m talking to a wall.”