Write a Prayer-a-Day Project

Sometimes, it’s just a little rough around the edges, gravel on the margins.  A bit dingy, a trifle moldy.  Beauty is less obvious, but resides there nonetheless.  It is slightly irreverent, a bit heretical, and altogether obtuse – just the way we like it; we’d have it no other way.  Get into it, wear it like skin, drink it like bathtub gin.  A little dab will do ya, and the patches that you sew and the ragged cloth and the scrabble will indelibly leave their mark, a scar, a scab, a badge of honor, and we are better for it.  For the tatters of life we give thanks.  Blesséd be, and Amen.

Let us do what we must, and sooner rather than later.  Procrastination is its own Purgatory, holding us hostage through stress and distraction.  Motivation is the fuel that will take us down the road, so fill our tanks!  Now, if we could only remember where we left the keys…  For our journey’s beginnings, and for distances traveled we give thanks.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

May we be True to ourselves and each other.  Truth is an elusive attribute: it seems one person’s truth is another person’s heresy.  There are fundamental truths – air and water are required for our survival.  And we speak of Ultimate Truth, as if we know it.  When we find the Truth we feel compelled to share it, as if it is the only Truth.  The Truth is, we are all, each of us, aspects of The Truth, and there can be no Complete Truth until we all come together.  Truth be told, we best serve Truth by serving each other.  For our own little piece of the truth we are Grateful.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

For every moment of serious reflection or concentrated effort, we must allow ourselves a playful moment as well.  We are simply astronomical motes flitting in shafts of starlight, dancing our way across the universe, and play is the natural state of all life.  And so must our prayer also be playful, for to deny it is to deny ourselves.  Any form of play is a prayer, so let us claim our status!  I’m a Player and a Prayer, yo.  Let us make joyful noise!  We are grateful for Play, and say Blesséd Be, and Amen!

From where does our strength come?  What is its center?  Is it muscle?  Is it heart?  Where is the wellspring of courage and fortitude?  How do we exercise and condition our will? May we find the Spiritual Calisthenics that our Soul Endurance may be built.  May we find the proper exercise to tone and define the very essence of our Being.  May we aspire to Fitness Everlasting, and grow in gratitude for our increased flexibility and health.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

The Persistence of Memory is a sword that cuts both ways: we recall with fondness our cherished memories; and we are haunted with old regrets and unfulfilled promises.  Rarely  though is this a zero-sum game.  We tend to define ourselves through this lens of reflection, so may we choose not to block-out the negativity, but rather to own it and move on.  May we project our positivity into the future, and create the opportunities for the happiest memories of our lives yet to come.  For all that we’ve been and all we are yet to become we give thanks.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

May we today find our voice, to lift up in joy, to speak truth to power, to say I love, to proclaim our being.  Let us speak our hearts and minds, and also let us hear what others have to say.  We need not shout so loud as to drown out others – a whisper has more power than words shouted in hate or anger.  So make a joyful noise, and let our voices ring from here to eternity.  We are a grateful choir, and we say Blesséd Be, and Amen.

The world sometimes can feel like a sinking ship: who will offer a lifeboat?  When the seas rise up to swallow us, who will offer refuge.  In such turbulent moments, there is no “us” and “them;” there is only We, and together we sink or swim.  So cast out your life preserver, and the life you save may be your own.  For our shared preservation we give thanks.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

For new eyes with which to see blessings where they lie;

For new ears with which to hear the sweet whispering of suffering and joy;

For new hands that hold the power of healing and industry;

For new Us, not unlike the old Us, simply more in tune with Being –

We are grateful for rebirth each day, renewal in breathing, and hope everlasting.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.

It has been said that Charity begins at home, and so it is for everything.  Forgiveness begins at home as does Respect.  Compassion and Companionship begin at home, and likewise do Trust and Encouragement.  We must first practice on ourselves that which we would bring to the world.  This is the sacred act of Be-ing, the practice of Humanity.  Let us be artists of Living and not just along for the ride.  We are grateful for intention.  Blesséd Be, and Amen.