Hello,
This is Jacob Watson.
Welcome.
I am an Interfaith Minister and I offer these meditative prayers I wrote to honor and support your journey during this time of living with COVID-19 and its variants.
Prayers are conversations with the Holy One and the Holy Many,
With God,
With that which is greater,
With the Great Spirit,
With the Divine.
They are two-way communications.
Thus,
Speaking or imagining words is only one part.
Listening is the crucial second part.
When I am lost and lonely,
Simply remembering that I can pray is life-saving.
Suddenly I am no longer alone,
For as I imagine praying,
I realize that by doing so,
Simply having a wish or intention to pray,
I am immediately joining all those people who have prayed ever before in history.
And in this moment of living in a pandemic,
Hear our short prayers I have written for you to say to yourself silently or for you to say out loud to others you love.
Listen to them all or choose ones that resonate with you.
Each prayer is followed by a soft ringing of my singing bowl before the next prayer.
O Holy One,
Sublime Spirit,
All-Knowing One,
Be with us all at this extraordinary time of living with COVID-19.
We are now brought together in this pandemic as never before,
All humanity together.
We need you as we need each other,
For both the Divine and human are now joined in a new way.
We are blessed to be reminded anew of this union with you and each other.
Hold us in your heart of hearts as we hold our dear companions in our hearts.
We remember,
We learn again that every moment is precious.
Every breath we take is a gift that we appreciate as never before.
Even as we breathe together,
We now must grieve together,
For our losses are many.
Our elders,
Our mothers and fathers,
The wise ones,
Are taken from us too soon,
And we can't hold them and touch them as they go.
More loss.
And it is our people of any age.
These goodbyes are both horrible and unfair.
It is not how we and they wished it would be.
So we wail and cry and you listen.
Thank you.
Please stay with us.
Holy Father,
Earthly Mother,
Gracious God of all,
We reach out to you as the creator of every minute of our lives.
Let us open our hearts to receive the healing love you shower upon us.
May we know the deep truth of your compassionate and generous spirit as it awakens divine healing in us.
Blessed be.
Amen.
O Holy One,
God,
Great Spirit,
Thank you for this precious time to be with each other and with you.
We pray that you might hold our fragile bodies and tender souls in your strong and loving arms.
Thank you.
O Holy One,
God,
Great Spirit,
May your boundless loving presence bring us peace of mind,
Peace of body,
And peace of spirit.
We ask these prayers in the names of all the great prophets who have walked this earth,
Teaching us how to live in love and compassion.
Blessed be.
Amen.
See the ceiling above,
Then the space from here to there,
A lifetime of space travel filled by my life,
My people,
And today you,
My Holy One.
See the ceiling above,
Then the space from here to there,
A lifetime of space travel filled by my life,
My people,
And today you,
My Holy One.
Thank you,
Gracious God,
For my life today.
Thank you,
Kind God,
For these moments.
Thank you,
Creator God,
For small gifts.
Thank you,
God,
For my life today.
A movement,
A look,
A sound,
A perfume,
A sip,
Gratitude.
Behold,
Here I am again.
The Holy One lives here.
Welcome.
Light comes and sounds of life.
Light and life,
Always light,
Even in the dark.
Light comes.
The holy light is here.
I see you,
Says God.
No need to hide.
My love shines.
Soak me up.
Soak me in.
Blossom.
Fresh comes and goes.
Our spirit lives on.
A new kind of health.
Always there.
Always here.
Always spirit.
Spirit always.
I love you,
Says God,
The creator of every moment.
I love you,
Says all creation.
Everything says love.
Love says everything.
Greetings,
Gracious God.
I greet you as I hope you greet me.
I need you this day.
I come to you hurting and sore.
Please be with me in this new day.
Even as I feel old and tired,
Let me rest in your arms.
Lord,
I cannot see you.
My eyes are dim.
Lord,
I cannot hear you.
My ears are failing.
Lord,
I cannot touch you.
My arms are still.
Oh,
Lord,
See me.
Hear me.
Touch me.
Love me,
Lord.
Help me know that you are here.
Ease my heart with your love.
May all who enter this room know that I welcome you.
Your care and attention are needed here.
Know,
Too,
That God is here.
Together we hold hands,
The tender and protective hands of love.
Oh,
God,
Ease my pain.
Remind me these aches are yours.
Just as the love I feel comes from you,
Both I offer to you.
And so I feel your presence and your help.
Oh,
Lord,
Even as my body hurts,
My soul rests with you.
Help me know the peace inside my aches and pains.
Help me live today in your arms.
I lie here alone.
I read these words and wonder who will come.
In this empty space,
I can feel you here and I am grateful.
I open my eyes.
I cannot even think,
But I can see you here and I am not alone.
I am warm and alive with the love of a lifetime.
This is not who I am.
My tired old body is just a shell,
But inside my heart beats soft and warm and loving.
Your light.
All I'm doing is lying here in the dark with my eyes closed.
And I can see your light coming to me with this new day.
Inside my eyes,
You bring a new pink golden glow.
I don't have to do anything except see your light.
I can't help but see it.
It is behind my eyes and in my brain.
Thank you for your light.
Footsteps of God.
It is dark.
I hear no sound,
But something woke me up.
Now I hear it again.
A footstep.
Definite.
I wait.
I listen.
There.
Again.
Another footstep.
Heel down,
Toe on the floor,
Nearby.
I am not alone.
I know I am not alone here.
And I am comforted.
In these pandemic times,
When metal and plastic screens are portals to our loved ones,
We thank you for these technological reminders of the love that is always present in our hearts.
Hearts that always carry our love to each other,
All the time,
Day and night,
Across any miles,
Love that is always alive and always present.
Thank you.
