Write a Prayer-a-Day Project

Just another day in Paradise!  It is tempting to end the prayer right there, for the truth of it is deep and needs no modification.  And yet, for many, this life is not bliss; it is struggle and pain and loneliness.  Let us be grateful, today if we recognize that the heavenly kingdom is all around us, is in us, and is us.  Let us seek to bring this truth to light, and to ease the burden of those for whom this truth is less evident.  This world can look blessed; it can also look cursed.  The view depends not only what you look at, but also the way that you see.  May we find our divine eyes, that we may see the world as beautiful, precious, and inherently good.  For Eden vision we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes.  No sooner have we greeted a new friend into our lives, we discover another has left.  Sometimes the the leaving is merely geographic; sometimes the separation is emotional; ultimately the final goodbye is corporeal.  And yet, as long as we have our memories, we never truly lose the presence of another in our lives, for we are the aggregate of our experience.  So let us be open to new relationships, let us cultivate the opportunities to grow and share our love.  In so doing, we only become more wholly who we are destined to be.   And let us not disproportionately mourn loss, for we are ever more whole and complete in the wake of goodbye, creating space for the next hello.  We are grateful for all who have been in our lives, and for all those yet to come.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if everything were simply ordinary?

Wouldn’t it be fine if everything were sublime?

Wouldn’t it be great if truth were found in aggregate?

Wouldn’t it be swell if ignorance were feared more than hell?

Wouldn’t it be neat if everyone were kind and sweet?

Wouldn’t it be nice if we practiced love once or twice?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful in everyday were meaningful?

It is, and for this we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Without a prayer on the tongue, or a message behind the voice, are we therefore shallow in some way?  Certainly not!  To live today honestly and authentically is prayer enough.  To engage kindly and thoughtfully is a mighty message.  Actions speak volumes, where words can be hollow.  As Mahatma Gandhi said, “in prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”    The challenge in wholehearted living is that it requires us to be vulnerable.  And yet, our vulnerability is ultimately our strength.  For this vulnerability we are thankful.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?  The voices of these virtues are often vilified and dismissed as ‘idealists.’  Yes, these qualities are ideals, but that does not mean they do not deserve merit.  Indeed, by being ‘ideals’ it is implied that they are aspirational; they must be lived into being, for they do not come about on their own, unbidden.  The prophets of peace and love understand this, and are willing to suffer the slings and arrows in order to proclaim the hope and hold the vision for a better future.  Let us bless them; let us become them, and may we find our own prophetic voice, for revelation is constantly unfolding.  For Hope we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Appearances can deceive; assumptions are made informed by our own prejudices.  We process the world through our built-in filters.  We judge based on our past experience.  It is natural, but it is not necessarily healthy.  Today may we begin a practice of discernment.  May we suspend our impulses to judge.  May we hone our ability to simply take in information, and allow it to percolate before we form an opinion.  May we remember that ours is not the only perspective, that the truth we hold is incomplete.  This is the foundation for compassion.  For thoughtful response we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Once more unto the breach!  Sometimes life can feel like a prolonged campaign, an endless siege.  Mysteriously, we never seem to know who is this entrenched foe; we only know that we’ve been on this crusade for what feels like forever.  May we today find new perspectives on these embattled feelings.  May we see not challenge, but instead opportunity.  May we find not resistance, but rather deep living.  Let us retain our warrior spirit, but transform those energies to higher purpose.   Gandhi was such a warrior, as was Martin Luther King.  We need not take on the whole world, but we can change it: let us begin today.  For ever ascending energy we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Travel across borders today, in the spirit of connection and fellowship.  Let us never become so insular that we cannot recognize our sisters and brothers living right next door.  They suffer the same doubts and fears as us.  They also have endured, and have wisdom to share, solace to offer.  We are a blessing to each other: may today celebrate that reality.  For neighbors both near and far we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

In the blink of an eye, it is yesterday.  Where did tomorrow go?  Time escapes us, and yet we invented ‘time.’  It is ours to construct or deconstruct however it may suit us.  Let us not stop time, but rather let us suspend its importance.  Let us not manage our time, but rather get about living regardless of it.  Let us not wish ourselves into the future, nor  lose ourselves in the past.  Rather, let us live in this moment, which is infinite and therefore not bound by time.  Take the time.  Really ‘take’ it, for it is ours to do with as we please.  For a life without clocks or watches we give thanks.  Blessed Be, and Amen.

Awaken, Spirit of Life, in our essence of being that we may recognize you in ourselves; that we may know our own inherent worth and dignity; that we my exercise compassion; that we may forgive; that we may fulfill our destinies; that we may be contributing members of the interconnected web of existence; that we may not judge; that we may not harm; that we may heal, both ourselves and each other.  For we collectively are you, Spirit of Life, and you are the sum of us, no more, and certainly no less.  Today, may we be divine!  We are thankful and grateful.  Blessed Be, and Amen.