2008-02-18
A channel.
As someone who lays no claim to any one particular belief system or deity, I spend an awful lot of time thinking about prayer.
I went to Catholic school, where prayers were memorized. We were tested on prayers, the way other kids were quizzed on spelling. What does it mean, exactly, when you get a 97 on the Nicene Creed? You're pretty close to faithful, but not quite faithful enough. Not as faithful as Mary Catherine Frances O'Malley, who got 100% but will also get in trouble two months later for making out with another girl in the coat closet.
I was reminded recently that there are really only two prayers: "Help" and "Thank You." And by "Help," I don't mean "Oh God, if you just ______, then I'll ______." I believed for years in a God that accepted bribes, but frequently turned mine down.
I was out with some friends of mine yesterday, and the conversation turned to the Prayer of Saint Francis:
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.
It's attributed, of course, to Saint Francis, although it can't be traced in its present form further back than 1912. No matter. My argument yesterday was that no matter what you believe or don't believe, it's beautifully written, and totally applicable to any set of circumstances. Work, home, relationships. Boiled down to its essence, it asks of the petitioner: "What am I going to bring to the table?" Am I being honest? Supportive? Compassionate? Forgiving? Doesn't matter if you're asking this of God, or of yourself. But ask.
lisamcc at 9:56 a.m.
1 comments so far
Lynette
2008-03-24 23:30:39
I concure, whole heartedly.
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