Prayer

Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.
~ Martin Luther

I grew up Buddhist... in the town I live in, that's a very rare and random thing. Most of my friends didn't have any kind of idea what that meant. To be honest, I don't think I did either. To me, it was something to do because my parents did it. I think religion is that way for most people until they really look at it, and really delve deep into things. I've been doing just that for the past two years.. delving that is. Ever since I started going to a Unitarian Universalist church I've really started to get down and dirty with myself and what I believe or don't. I've also filled in some holes that were lurking around the edges.

Prayer was one of those holes. Growing up the way I did, we chanted, and I had that down pretty well but we didn't pray. There was no 'Lords Prayer' that we said before bed, or a prayer of thanks before eating. We were supposed to look within, and to those in our lives. That was fine, but... was missing something. I'm not even sure I could pin down what was missing... Nah, sure I could. There was no way to communicate our care and concern with someone in need. At least not in a way that suited me. Still didn't help me know how to pray.

The quote I opened with, sort of makes sense of how I've come about 'how' to pray. Ever since my reiki classes I've been getting slammed in the head with prayers for people at random. It's tough to get them out or down on paper all the time. But, I figure if they were meant to hear them, they would get out in time. Otherwise it's just a prayer offered out to the Universe which is just as good if not better sometimes.

If we could all hear one another's prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens.
~ Ashleigh Brilliant


Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.
~ Norman B. Rice