When injustice tangles my
lifeline
between here
and what is real,
I awaken to
the ordinary,
the everyday,
the devotion of
mountain laurels—
how could I have
missed them?
And the robins
throwing flames around
their twisted villages,
the hemlock
like ghostly brides:
it all appears
when the mind and the
rain-washed air
are one,
when the wind is
theater I want to
know personally—
a gateway to the
Otherworld or just
a better form
of now,
where the scent is
feverish activity,
where countless
tiny lives join
countless others in the
single goal to
just be here.
They know what ambition is,
and it has nothing to do
with the things
I care about.
And now they are
drawing me into
their tin chants,
their sky, their love,
their beliefs,
now rage is a waste
of limited strength in a
limited life,
resentment just
another hissing spark
on the river that
spits out the
fallen sky
and grumbles for me,
and I wonder if it's wise
to pray while the
river is teaching,
and if God,
who loves in a way
I never could, wrote
this epic of birth and death
and mystery in between,
then how should I speak
when the oaks
said it best
long before I was born?
So I'll enter the
silence
and sit in a chapel
of grass
along with the crane who
thinks he is God,
and a thousand sun-gorged
quiet marvels,
and I'll step out of my
old shattered self
and stare and please God
with my wonder,
till the earth is small
again—
a cluster of jewel tones
and souls
sharing the vastness,
a prayer
from this point of view.
Patricia Joan Jones
Have you ever noticed as you watch people going about their day…
how everyone no matter where they live or who they are…prays in their own way?
Some people fall to their knees, others pray from a religious seat
some fold their hands, others lift them up
some say a blessing before they eat.
Some raise the roof in joyous salute and shout their prayers out loud
others say their prayers more quietly…hands together…their heads bowed.
Some pray when they are driving…or running
others pray at a slower gate,
Some pray so quietly no one can hear them…
Some people meditate.
Some people fly their prayer flags,
and everybody knows
those who have pictures of their God hanging in their house
whose eyes follow you wherever you go.
A God may or may not be involved
for I believe anytime you share
your hopes or your dreams with the universe…
this is a form of prayer.
Praying is universal…it’s a wish you hope will travel far
It could be praying to a God…or wishing on a star.
If this is true…that everyone prays
then in this way aren’t we all linked?
Wouldn’t this mean that all of us
are more alike than we may think?
It is my wish our world will come to understand this…
some time…some place…some day….
and that our praying will unite us…
for this…is what I pray.
When I was young I attended Catholic school...but while there, along the way
My God was beaten out of me, yet for some reason...I still pray?
I see religions fostering hostility and no longer am I awed
As I watch people hate, maim and kill each other all in the name of god..and still I pray.
I hear young girls and boy kidnapped into sex trafficking…and I think how can this be?
I see refugees around the world so afraid they have to flee…and still I pray.
I see leaders threatening war…do they know this is not a game?
I hear hatred spewing from our leaders mouths…and I feel sad…I feel ashamed…and still I pray.
I see countries, after centuries of war, whose arsenals of death each day increase
Continuing to believe after all this time that war can lead to peace...and still I pray.
I see people destroying or polluting many of our resources here on Earth
who forget, or worse don’t care, about its value or its worth..and still I pray.
I see bullying so pervasive it’s leading children to suicides
I see dictators abolishing human rights, I see massacres and genocides...and still I pray
For beneath this shroud of sorrow, in a world that’s tearing itself apart
I see many people who prove our world still has honor...still has heart.
There is a constant struggle between good and evil and though evil gets more press
Perhaps as each new day begins we need to reassess.
Evilness is more pervasive, more obvious...it’s a more visible paradigm
Goodness is more subtle, more inconspicuous and takes a little time.
If you’re keeping score between good & evil and what people of the world are choosing
I can’t be sure, but I think right now, it’s goodness that is losing.
But perhaps one day goodness will prevail...yes...perhaps one day...
Hoping good will overwhelm the bad...ah...perhaps that’s why I pray.
God I need your Grace today, to lead me, to guide me, to show me the way.
And it's through my Lord Jesus Christ that Heavenly Father I pray, and ask
For your Grace today. As I walk in this world of uncertainty and fear, Father
Your Heavenly voice I need to hear, to stop my mumbling, my stumbling,
And my short coming. To know when to open my mouth and know what to
Say, how to use my words and how to pray.
And this is why, I ask for your Grace today. It's through you Lord Jesus that
My way has been sealed because By your stripes I am healed. And by your
Grace i get complete relief but I need you also Lord to Help my unbelief.
Then I stand confident, tall and strong for by your Heavenly Grace I know
I can't go wrong. Because in this world of violence and when I don't feel
Safe, I know I can pray to you Lord and you will increase my faih.
Now this life can be a real struggle, so I can pray again and you will
Keep me out of trouble. For every day I am put to the test, it's by your
Grace that I can over come and enter into your rest. It's through you
Lord Jesus that my Blessing are coming like a flood and it's because I've
Been redeemed by your precious blood. So again I ask you God for your
Grace today and it's through my Lord Jesus Christ, that Heavenly Father
you have made the way.
By MilMan Inspired By Joyce Meyer.
A will to remain yourself
With a world
Screaming in your ear.
A need to laugh
As the bodies pile around you
And all that can be heard
Are the cries of those who survived
To warm ones heart
with a furnace of hope.
When the ice has almost
Taken you completely.
To burn with anger
The unjust bindings
Which tie your hands.
To be shed from the tree
And gently fall to the earth
With pride in your heart.
To reach the few with warmth
Who see the shadow
And grow cold
To place stones beneath
The ones who have lost their footing
So they may stand with courage
On their own two feet.
To go unnoticed, unrewarded
So that your motives
Will always be pure.