Constant Companions

 "As a youth, I remember feeling cheated out of rich content in my education when I listened to my mother in times of sorrow or tenderness, lovingly recite entire poems and passages from books she studied in high school." -- Ben Johnson, Education Consultant

I envy people who were raised in religious traditions where rote prayer was required. I know the initial memorization was probably a drag but it seems to me that the rewards of the finished product would be long-lasting and worth the effort.   I find great value in memorizing short prayers and mantras for use when I need to center myself, comfort myself, comfort others, or stay in the present moment. A constant friend in the time of loss or anxiety, memorization of prayers creates a fertile ground in our being for composing our own prayers. Many of the famous pray-ers in history started their devotional time with memorized prayers and then went on to compose their own soul thoughts.

"To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself. Whenever a man so concentrates his attention -- on a landscape, a poem, a geometrical problem, an idol, or the True God -- that he completely forgets his own ego and desires, he is praying. The primary task of the schoolteacher is to teach children, in a secular context, the technique of prayer." -- W. H. Auden

My favorite prayers:

May I have the courage today,

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.

   ---John O'Donohue

Most high and glorious God,

bring light to the darkness of my heart.

Give me right faith, certain hope, and perfect charity.

Lord give me insight and wisdom,

That I might always discern,

Your holy and true will.

   --- St. Francis of Assisi

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Worthy of memorization:

Let me harmonize my singular melody
with the colossal chorus of all creation,
in all space, and in all time,
so that what I do promotes the evolution of your desires,
Spirit of God in almost perfect hiding,
and what you desire
grows as a discernable pattern beneath my efforts. Amen
   ---William Cleary in Prayers to an Evolutionary God

Holy Cloud of Being,
God of radical and intimate closeness,
in your presence we pray our inadequate words
of adoration and surrender.
You have blessed us with life and consciousness,
with mobility and creativity,
we would, for our part, fulfill all your intentions for us
though every thought we have of you
is paradoxical and inadequate.
   ---William Cleary in Prayers to an Evolutionary God 








Everthing I see, hear,
touch, feel, taste,
speak, think, imagine,
is completing a perfect circle
God has drawn.
   ---Meister Eckhart











With passion pray.
With passion work.
With passion eat and drink
and dance and play.
Why look like a dead fish in this ocean of God?
   ---Rumi