Last Saturday I had the honor of being a "guest preacher" at our Unitarian Church. The whole experience was humbling and wonderful. I was most nervous about writing a prayer. So much so that I started to write notes to myself about it. When I finished, I realized that my notes were the prayer and so that is how I left it:
How to say a Prayer
When in doubt, start with gratitude. Start by giving conscious thanks for the earth, your family and friends, your mind, your heart, and your humanity. Give thanks for all that connects us to each other. We have all ached with love, loss, joy, and despair. And we know what it is to languish too. To feel numb. To wait. To yearn. And to get some kind of reprieve. To celebrate. Stop and give thanks for all of it because it is in that metaphoric tissue that we find empathy, hope, forgiveness, and love. Not simply for each other, but for ourselves.
Don’t forget to pray for those who suffer. The hungry, the sick, the angry, the embattled. Syria.
Pray for wisdom. Always for wisdom. For yourself and others. Pray for compassion too. Which is, in fact, wisdom in the profoundest sense.
Pray for courage. Mostly the courage to be yourself. Because that is where strength comes from.
Pray for guidance.
Remind yourself that humility is not passivity, tears are not weakness, stillness is not laziness, and aging is not death.
Remember to breathe. To let air fill your chest. To let yourself feel small and big at the same time.
Don’t forget that when you do any task with generosity and love, you cannot entirely fail, because you’ll still end up with generosity and love.
And then. Let your mind rest so that you can listen to the world around you and to the beating of your own heart.
 |
| The boyz wanted to check out the pulpit with me |
