Greetings and blessings,
Friends.
Thank you once again for joining us in this journey.
Each segment,
A lesson,
Each step,
Each breath,
Allowing each word to absorb.
As we grasp for the meaning,
The understanding of the wisdom.
This next segment,
The prophet speaks of prayer.
There's a saying that prayer is speaking to God and meditation is listening.
Whatever your spiritual proclivity or bias is,
It's okay to pray in that regard.
In giving voice to your intention,
Maybe through mantra,
Maybe just a word to another.
Then a priestess said,
Speak to us of prayer.
Then he answered saying,
You pray in your distress and also in your need.
With that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?
If it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space.
It is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.
And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer,
She should spur you again and yet again.
The weeping until you should come laughing.
When you pray,
You rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour and whom save in prayer you may not meet.
Therefore,
Let your visit to that temple invisible be for not but ecstasy and sweet communion.
For you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive.
And if you should enter into it to humble yourself,
You shall not be lifted.
Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others,
You shall not be heard.
It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.
I cannot teach you how to pray in words.
God listens not to your words save when he himself utters them through your lips.
And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.
But you who are born in the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart.
And if you but listen in the stillness of the night,
You shall hear them saying in silence,
Our God who art our winged self,
It is thy will in us that willeth.
It is thy desire in us that desireth.
It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights which are thine into days which are thine also.
We cannot ask thee for aught.
For thou knowest our needs before they are born in us.
Thou art our need.
And in giving us more of thyself,
Thou givest us all.
In giving us more of thyself,
Thou givest us all.
As we continue this journey towards this Thanksgiving holiday,
It's a practice of listening.
And listening with intent to find the sacredness and even the most mundane.
And so when we collect our thoughts,
We can observe them.
And maybe for a moment or two,
A brief time in your day,
We can pause to pray.
And when we pray,
It doesn't have to be religious at all.
And when we pray from our heart,
Let your love,
Your honesty pour forth.
Hmm.
Then we hear the song of gratitude.
And this is awareness.
Maybe even understanding.
The sacredness that we honor in that present moment,
Giving voice to our thoughts,
Honoring the practice,
Honoring all that we've been through,
The many steps,
Breaths,
Choices,
Honoring those around us.
Giving thanks.
That place,
That energy that unites us.
Truly the light and love in me honors the light and love in you.
I bow to you.
In silence,
This temple,
The invisible.
Offering these blessings.
May you be happy.
I know that happiness is within you.
May you be healthy.
Because I know there is strong health and abundance within you.
And may you know the peace that sings in your soul.
With all my love,
With all my gratitude.
Namaste.
