Category Archive:Prayer

Ancient & Modern Communication Meet: Texting Prayers

Barbara post on April 15th, 2013
Posted in Communication, Family, Love, Meditation, Prayer, Spirituality

Every morning since October 6, 2012, I’ve been texting prayers to my cousin as she works her way through a really tough time. It hadn’t been a conscious decision to do this. It just sort of happened and the weird part about it is that it happened at a distressing point in my own spiritual life; a time when I was praying daily into an abyss. Unmoored and questioning the nature of faith itself – prayer was a conundrum for me.

Yet I continued the daily ritual and added to my cousin via text. And in the process I began to experience healing grace. For as I assured my cousin of God’s presence, God began to resurrect for me in an unfamiliar yet unmistakably God-like way. And given what I know—and more importantly what I know I don’t know—this part of my spiritual journey has become a curiosity to be observed rather than analyzed (since I can’t quite figure it out anyway), a gift to be savored.

Perhaps at some point when I’m ready to move on from observation and choose to analyze again, I will answer the questions that trouble me. But not yet. When I’m ready the question will still be here:

  • What is prayer . . . pure energy? Communication or communion with God? Sheer mystery? An action? A thought? A thought turned into reality via energy? Personal delusion? Communal hysteria?
  • What does prayer do . . . change our circumstances? Change our perception? Change us? Change the world? Bestow miracles? Engender grace?
  • What or who is God . . . Enlivening spirit? Creator of the universe? Dispenser of wishes like a great Santa-in-the-sky? Hands-off First Cause? Personal friend who hears my ranting? Pure Energy? The Center that is in all and is All?

I am no theologian. I enter into these questions as a person who from childhood was anchored by experiential faith that guided my life (yet I found no comfort in its silence in my darkest hour); a church goer who spent a lifetime of Sundays at Mass who now feels alienated and estranged from her church; a person who still cherishes the deep mystery of rituals and what they offer who senses no earthly community in which to share them.

But the ancient rituals of prayer remain and – other than love – have become my only spiritual mooring. And in familial love, I had the desire to reach out to my cousin to shine a hint of light into her darkness. Given the 1,000 miles that separate us, I decided texting was my way. So I text her prayers of love, trust, faith, and hope and one day I noticed that the light in those prayers reflected back into my darkness as well. I was texting her memories, ideas, and hopes that blossomed into my own reality.

The gift I offered her was returned to me and assures me of some sort of Divinity; one that I still call God even though I can’t define exactly what that means. The scriptures of my childhood tell me to knock and the door will be opened. My morning texts remind me that the door opens every day.

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Angels Among Us

Barbara post on April 3rd, 2013
Posted in Meditation, Perception, Prayer, Spirituality

I was half way through my early morning speed-walk and about to tackle a long hill when a white pickup truck turned the corner. I was walking in the street with cars parked on both sides so I ducked into an empty spot to let the truck pass. The truck was moving too slowly though, so I had sidled along the next parked car again by the time the truck came abreast and matched my speed. When it did I noticed a public utility logo on the door and woman behind the wheel who had thick fiery auburn hair that cascaded over her bright yellow safety vest.

She had a huge smile that reflected the joy in her voice as she playfully shouted “Mornin . . .” over the rumble of the engine straining on its slow uphill ride. She then chortled, “. . . are we having a race?” I took her cue and started to jog and she threw her head back in laughter and pressed her accelerator and said, “My speedometer is broken!” and I said back, “No, it just doesn’t register ’cause I just run too slow.” She laughed again and wished me a great morning and a good day before she said to herself, “now where do I start this morning?”

And boom, just then, I realized she was the blessing from an unspoken prayer. . . an angel with red hair.

I had started my walk rather exhausted even after a good night’s sleep. The beauty of the trees in my neighborhood and the pray-as-you-go music and reflection I was listening to had helped some. But it was the playfulness in that woman’s voice and demeanor that made me remember that life doesn’t have to be so serious.

Life is a festival of joy to be savored every day. There may be moments of darkness but joy, beauty, and wonder are still available to us if we take just a moment to look for them.

A tree on 17th Stree

A tree on 17th Stree

The woman in the truck with the hearty laugh, a woman who was kind enough to greet a stranger one cool early morning, was like an angel who reminded me not to take myself so seriously. Take a moment to play. To see beauty. To be at peace.

Before I finished my walk, I decided to stop to take a few pictures. Seriousness, work, and all the issues that needed my attention could wait just a moment more.

Savoring playfulness and beauty as a way to care for my soul is just as important as everything else that needs my attention today.

 

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A Valentine’s Day Greeting

Barbara post on February 14th, 2013
Posted in Family, Forgiveness, Love, Prayer, Spirituality

I’m guessing that most Valentine’s Day greetings today will be from one person to another. I’d like to share what I think is a close approximation to the kind of love greeting that, if we were silent enough long enough, we might hear from our Source today.

For this greeting, I’ve taken a few liberties from the opening lines of one of my all-time favorite prayers whose authorship remains a mystery to me. I have no idea if it was written by St. Ignatius of Loyola, some other Jesuit, or Jacqueline Syrup Bergan & S. Marie Schwan the authors of the book Take & Receive: Love a Guide for Prayer (the book in which I first encountered the prayer many years ago).

If these words were in a greeting card, I imagine the scene on the card would be something beautiful in nature; a grand tree, an ocean scene, a wondrous flower, a delicate butterfly.  It would be something pastoral that would set your mind ready to hear the following words from your Creator:

Mark Groves photo of a sunset

Yaquina Head Lighthouse At Sunset by Mark Groves www.MarkGroves.us

When my love spilled over into creation, I thought of you. You are from love, of love, for love. . . May your heart always recognize, cherish, and enjoy the goodness in all creation. It is my gift . . .My love created that too . . . especially for you.

These few sentences hold all we need to live in truth and freedom. We are the physical manifestation of the Great Spirit’s overflowing love. We were created out of love and we are designed for love. The Maker of all things had a loving thought, spoke the creative word, and all that we see in the universe spilled forth from love.

When we are able to accept that truth, we can cast off fear and live out of the love that flows naturally in us. We forgive, we have patience, we trust ourselves – others – life – Spirit.

Those of lucky enough to have created a child or those who have selflessly devoted themselves to the needs of another have an approximation of this kind of love. It is powerful. Awe inspiring. Generative.

None-the-less, in our imperfect humanity, our woundedness, it is hard to remember this deep well of love that created us and flows within us and out of us. We can forget this powerful energy and fall into criticism of ourselves and others as a knee-jerk reaction to the daily struggles of human life. We often don’t take even a moment to reflect on why we’ve lost that loving feeling; we simply react out of our disappointment, impatience, failure, or anger.

But days like today remind us of the enormous healing power of love. Love heals the vagaries of life. On this one day of the year devoted solely to love, it is a good time to remember that you began as a loving thought that could not be contained.  Revel in this love and share it with anyone and everyone you meet.

Happy Valentines Day ♥

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Novena for Peace: Day 9 Peace As a Way of Life

Barbara post on December 21st, 2012
Posted in Communication, Family, Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Peace begins with a thought, an idea, a seed germinating in a heart that is watered with love, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, and respect for all life. Peace isn’t simply the focus of nine days of prayer; peace is a way of life.

woman & 2 dogs hikingSo, water the peace seed in you. Feed your heart with the smiles of young children, with the beauty of nature – a field of flowers, the sunset over an ocean’s rhythmic motion, light filtering through the trees on a forest path, a mountainside blanketed in snow. Water your soul with chords of music that vibrate with the essence of being human, with the joy that comes from giving to another human being in need, with the compassion that insists you care well for yourself too.

Nurture that peace so you can go into the world to be the peace you long to see, the peace that can change the world as we know it. There is a difference, however, between keeping the peace and maintaining a status quo that is unjust or causes suffering. That status quo must be courageously challenged. Yet the challenge must emanate from the peace we have in our heart and must be enacted out of love, not resentment.

“Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”  Albert Einstein

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama

 

On this last day of our Novena for Peace, the Mayan long-count-calendar completes its cycle and ushers in a new age, the next chapter in the story of humankind. We individually and collectively can choose whether it will be an era of peace or if we continue in violence, separation, resentments, and war.

 

“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.”

― Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist philosopher, author, educator, poet in The Human Revolution

Peace be with you.

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Novena for Peace: Day 8 Choose Peace

Barbara post on December 20th, 2012
Posted in Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality Tags: , , , , , ,

Thinking about the enormity of the problems that war and violence generate can mask the reality that each of us has a responsibility to be a peacemaker, to choose peace in every thought and action. The choices we make in our everyday lives reverberate through the whole of the universe; each of us matters and each of us has the power to shift more towards peace.

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds—our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs.

“To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come.”

Thich Nhat Hanh in Living Buddha, Living Christ

 

“Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.”

General Omar Nelson Bradley, 1893 – 1981

If we make a conscious choice to dedicate ourselves to a life of peace we can be an unstoppable force for good. Living the Sermon on the Mount, acting with love, practicing radical forgiveness, protecting and upholding the dignity of all life (not just the lives similar to ours or the ones we like), acknowledging our Oneness with each other, will make a difference.

We continue to pray a Novena for Peace asking for the strength and courage to make such choices.

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Novena for Peace: Day 7 – Peace In Our Hearts

Barbara post on December 19th, 2012
Posted in Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality Tags: , , , , , ,

Peace In Our Hearts

I have long contended that we cannot have peace in the world until we have peace in our hearts. This lesson has been taught by religious leaders across time, faiths, and belief systems. Something that universally taught must be true. If we can learn to experience inner peace, we can recognize our Oneness and in that Oneness we will choose peace.

the moon rising over the river“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”―

Black Elk 1863-1950 Oglala Lakota (Sioux) medicine man who later embraced Catholicism and saw no conflict in, or contradiction between, the spiritual teachings of both.

 “The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

 

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”  Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

 

“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” Dalai Lama XIV

 

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And for peace to be real it must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”  Mahatma Gandhi

 

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” Buddha

And so we continue praying our Novena for Peace  becoming conscious of the ways in which we are (or can become) instruments of peace. We also look within to see the ways in which we disturb peace. With conscious attention, to both we learn how to choose peace more often.

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Novena Day 6: Power in Small Things

Barbara post on December 18th, 2012
Posted in Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality Tags: , , , , , , ,

Power in the small things

“If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning, and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon. If you and your friends do not despise the small work, a million people will remove a lot of suffering. That is the secret. Start right now.”

Sister Chän Khöng peace activist, expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist nun

In the vastness of the world with all its problems, violence, tragedy, and war we can feel that we are powerless. It is easy to feel that we couldn’t possibly make a difference, that anything we offer is insignificant.

Yet if we are truly One with each other and One with God, then the small offerings we make in prayer and in loving service to one another will accomplish their purpose. The small things we can do give our lives purpose, meaning, and add to our own internal sense of peace. And each small good thing sends its vibration outward into to the world as well as throughout the Divine matrix that connects us all. Each prayer, each thought, each vibration is significant.

Intentionally joining our voices, prayers, and works of love and compassion together will invite peace into our lives, communities, and indeed into the world. And so we continue to pray our Novena for Peace.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.  And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” Helen Keller

 

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Novena Day 5: Inner life/Outer life

Barbara post on December 17th, 2012
Posted in Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality

jpg imageOur inner lives (spirit) are not always in harmony with our outer lives. If our inner life/outer life remains in discord, so too will our world.We believe we are human beings experiencing the reality of living, yet we are spiritual beings caught in the illusion of our individualism and separation from our Oneness with each other and God. The realms of the inner world, that is our spirituality, have the power to awaken us to our true nature.

But once awakened, we can see the illusion for what it is; we can focus on what truly matters. We can love without fear. We can see that this life is not a zero-sum game in which we must fight for our share. It is a celebration of Divine Love and there is always enough.

“How aware are we of our own inner life, our spirituality-something so intangible yet so priceless? How much effort do we make to perceive that which is not obvious, which can neither be seen nor heard? I believe the exploration and enrichment of the human spirit is what determines our very humanity. Such enrichment provides an inner compass that can lead civilizations to greatness.”
― Daisaku Ikeda Buddhist philosopher, author, educator, poet

“Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.”
― Thomas Merton  (1915-1968) Trappist Monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky,

Our ability to suspend judgment, to be one with our fellow human beings, and to feel peace is being sorely tested by outside events in these days of prayer. Yet we continue to pray the Novena for Peace for to do otherwise is giving up on the miracle we can create.

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Novena Day 4: The Sacred Space Between Us

Barbara post on December 16th, 2012
Posted in Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality

On this weekend, with a bit more time to reflect on our journey toward peace, Hedy Schleifer beautifully explains the power of connection that exists in what Jewish philosopher Martin Buber called the sacred space that lives between us. That sacred space exists between any two people or cities or countries and we must “cross the bridge” over that sacred space to meet each other with understanding and love.

This Ted video is nearly 20 minutes long, but it is worth every moment.

Hedy Schleifer: The Power of Connection

 

Our children grow in the space between us. The space between the couple is the playground of the child. When we know how to honor that space and make it sacred, our children can blossom in that sacred space. Hedy Schleifer

Whether or not we experienced it as a child, all children deserve to grow and blossom in peaceful homes, peaceful cities, peace-filled countries.  With the peace of our children so brutally assaulted this week, we must redouble our efforts to make the world safe for them. We cannot act to do this out of fear; we must do it out of love. And so we continue to pray together a Novena for Peace.

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Novena for Peace: Day 3 Shattered Lives

Barbara post on December 15th, 2012
Posted in Family, Grief, Meditation, Novena for Peace 2012, Prayer, Spirituality Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Shattered lives, prayers for peace

Yesterday in Connecticut violence ripped through 27 families, a community, and the whole nation. Numb disbelief settles on us as we imagine the horror of mothers and fathers who wailed through the night for their little ones sent off to school to never return home again. Words are so inadequate. What comfort can we offer?

Even in our apparent impotence, we can continue prayers for peace with the specific intention to offer love and support to the families who suffer. In the mystery of our connectedness, in our Oneness, our prayers will do their work. In compassion (com = with, passion = suffer: compassion = to suffer with) we will  – in Spirit – offer our silent witness to the pain and grief of these families. As we hold them in our hearts, let us also commit to compassionately love those closest us.

For me, music soothes, especially when words are useless. When my heart hurts so deeply with events that make no sense, music helps me cope. There is a website devoted to songs of grief called the Memorial Music Library that has a page devoted to songs of grief over the loss of a child . The library plays one song after another.

Other songs I listened to after hearing the awful news were:

Nikki Venable’s Now I lay me down to sleep

Sarah McLaughlin’s In the Arms of an Angel

Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven

The Dixie Chicks Godspeed

Selah’s I Will Carry You

 

I spoke recently with a woman in her sixties whose child had died at 20 years old. When I asked how long ago her daughter had died she said, “ages ago and yesterday.” For these Connecticut families, their staggering loss will weave itself into the fabric of their beings. Let us pray that as it does, the pain will not crush them and that one day they will feel peace again.

We continue to pray our ritual prayers for peace with our hearts broken.

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