3 Prayers.
Recently I was blog-tagged by a couple of cool dudes who have made a vocation of Juggling to bring people closer to God. They were taking part in a Meme. So my first thought was...."I'm honored...what is a Meme?
So to find out what I was dealing with I contacted the smartest person I know. Google. Google told me that a "Meme" is something akin to peer pressure of the abstract kind. Google informed me that:
A meme (rhymes with "team" ) behaves like a flu or a cold virus, traveling from person to person quickly, but transmitting an idea instead of a lifeform.
I thanked Google, and then Google proceeded to tell me that my life expectancy for the amount of Dorritos I eat is around 23. (hello borrowed time!) And then they informed me that Jim Hensen was born in 1936...
According to the Meme's instruction I am to post what my favorite three prayers are. Keep in mind that most of my prayers are based out of panic and emotion and are more freeformed than any of my dance moves. Usually my prayer looks like this:
PLEASE GOD!! DON'T LET ME RUN OUT OF GAS!!! THE E ON THE GAUGE STANDS FOR "EIGHT MORE MILES" RIGHT? AMEN!
or
JESUS, CAN YOU HELP ME PUT OUT THIS KITCHEN FIRE BEFORE MY WIFE COMES HOME? AMEN!
or
CREATOR, GOD, I THINK MY CHILD JUST ATE A ROCK! PLEASE SEND YOUR HEALING AND HOPEFULLY LAXATIVE- LIKE ENERGY TO PROVIDE A CLEAR JOURNEY FOR THIS ROCK THROUGH MY CHILDS INNER-WORKINGS. AMEN!
It turns out that I don't have a whole lot of structured prayer in my day to day life. I am an improvisor at heart, so that is usually how I run my spiritual life as well. However there are a few "set" prayers that I invoke on a daily basis. Here they are:
The first one is from a man whose work I was introduced to a few years back by a really incredible woman. The writer of this blessing is John O'Donohue who is a really amazing writer and mystic.This particular entry called "A Morning Offering" comes from his book called "To Bless This Space Between Us ". I open this book daily and it has provided me comfort with words of wisdom, peace, and joy. "A Morning Offering" is a blessing that I try my best to whisper aloud every morning as my sleepy eyes try to focus on the page. I cannot think of a better way to start the day....
A Morning Offering
To set the ghosts of longing free
Into the flow and figure of dream
That went to harvest from the dark
Bread for the hunger no one sees.
Welcome the wonder of this day,
The field of brightness it creates
Offering time for each thing
To arise and illuminate.
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Wave of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.
The Next prayer on my list is by far my favorite more traditional prayer that my ears have never gotten tired of hearing....it is written like a set of instructions for me to follow. It is simple, and since I am an idiot it is easy for me to follow!
PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
The last prayer for me is an original. I often emotionally flog myself at the end of the day for some days thinking that every word that schleps it's way out of my mouth is sacred, hilarious, or so profound that it would cause an ancient Chinese Taoist to want to stand under the shade of my remarkable zen. I am at a constant stand-off with my ego. A lot of the time my ego wins, but I do have a few moments of self-actualization where I can call myself on some of my stupidity. When I am in one of those moments here is the prayer that I whisper:
"Father, help me to remember to shut up and listen. I don't want to be the best person I have ever met."
So there is a brief look into the not-so-complicated inner spiritual workings of your favorite clown-phoebe. Let me leave you by reminding the both of us that the idea of prayer is a pretty amazing thing that we take for granted everyday. Every time we pray we are taking part in a mysterious and supernatural event where we are calling out to the unseen. We are allowing our souls for a moment to speak what is sometimes silent and festering inside them. Sometimes we treat prayer like brushing our teeth, it's a routine to bookend the day with. It is, however, something a lot more remarkable. It is a testament to our faith in a God/Creator that only the eyes of our heart can see.
Categories: Life
Tags: prayer st. francis john roedel john odonohue humility
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