Читать книгу Prayers for Hard Times - Becca Anderson - Страница 10
ОглавлениеShine the Light of Love
May the blessing of light be upon you.
May the blessing of light be upon you,
Light on the outside,
Light on the inside.
With God’s sunlight shining on you,
May your heart glow with warmth,
Like a turf fire
that welcomes friends and strangers alike.
May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes,
Like a candle in the window,
Welcoming the weary traveler.
—Traditional Irish Blessing
Irish Travelers Blessing
May the Hand of a Friend Always Be Near You
May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
- Traditional Irish Blessing
Never Give Up
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing.
- Dawna Markova
We Are All In This Together
All human beings are limbs of each other,
having been created of one essence.
When time affects a limb with pain,
The other limbs cannot at rest remain.
If thou feel not others’ misery,
A human being is no name for thee.
- Sa’adi, Persian Poet, 1270
Asking Forgiveness
O little self, within whose smallness lies
All that man was, and is, and will become,
Atom unseen that comprehends the skies
And tells the tracks by which the planets roam;
That, without moving, knows the joys of wings,
The tiger’s strength, the eagle’s secrecy,
And in the hovel can consort with kings,
Or clothe a god with his own mystery.
O with what darkness do we cloak thy light,
What dusty folly gather thee for food,
Thou who alone art knowledge and delight,
The heavenly bread, the beautiful, the good.
O living self, O god, O morning star,
Give us thy light, forgive us what we are.
- John Masefield, 1915
Keep Me Safe Forever
Bless, O Mistress of Magic,
Myself and everything anear me,
Bless me in all my makings,
And keep me safe forever.
Keep me safe forever.
From every unclean spirit and sending,
From every evil wish and cursing,
From every wicked spell and glamour,
From every star that frowns upon me,
Save me till the end of my day.
That they may keep me safe forever.
Save me till the end of my day.
Let every nymph and faerie be my sister,
Let every troll and brownie be my brother,
Let every fairy-mouse and will-o-the-wisp befriend me,
That they may keep me safe forever.
That they may keep me safe forever.
- Ancient Celtic Oral Tradition
What Is Your Gift to the World?
May the gift I give
change me and our world.
- Reverend Alan Claassen, 2011
Call Upon Your Inner Strength, No Matter What
If you hear the dogs,
keep on going.
If you hear gunfire,
keep on going.
If you hear shouts and footsteps,
keep on going.
- Harriet Tubman
Be Gentle and Kind to Yourself
You’re not alone.
So long as you reach out to others you’re never alone.
Ask for my help in loaning you the courage you already have.
It’s not that I never give you more than you can handle,
I am not responsible for the consequences of your actions,
only you are. Stay on the path of you’re suffering
by taking the steps you need to take.
Hang on and hang in there, because it’s now
that you’re growing at light speed,
You’re never going backward, only forward.
Decay your loneliness, by making full use
of my greatest gift to mankind, which is mankind.
Feel my alleged absence as proof,
for the paradox that I exist and have always existed.
Let me in by letting me out.
Love, fear, and all of the other feelings spared
are what create this reality.
These are the cause and effect of compassion and true forgiveness.
Ask for my help in walking through the anguish of forgiveness.
Do everything in your power to learn to forgive
and love those that hurt you,
Not for just them, but for others as well as yourself.
And never give up the hope that someday your ex-suffering
will be able to help the ones who were sick and hurt you,
As well as those who suffered like you.
Learn all this by practicing to love everyone.
Always look into yourself first;
your past, your present, your motives,
your feelings, and share the secrets
you find with myself as well as others.
Be gentle and kind to yourself
by being vulnerable, and sharing yourself
with others who are patient, kind, and who can only
try to love and accept you as much as I do.
As you get better at this,
take the risks that will enable you to venture out
further and further, so that your true self
may finally be exposed to the real world
I created for you to live in.
Be honest with everyone by never
accepting the blame that is not yours.
Free yourself with the truth, by telling
those stepping on your toes how you feel,
no matter how difficult it may seem at first, or
what its consequences may be;
you’ll only get better at it.
If you can learn to love, forgive,
fully listen, understand, and accept those around you,
you will eventually begin to learn how to love, forgive,
fully listen, understand, and accept yourself.
- Anonymous
Lead Us To Light And Truth
Asatho Maa Sad Gamaya.
Thamaso Maa Jyothir Gamaya.
Mrithyur Maa Amritham Gamaya.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
From untruth lead us to Truth.
From darkness lead us to Light.
From death lead us to Immortality.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
- Ancient Vedic Prayer
Embrace Humility, Patience, and Love
O Lord and Master of my life,
take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency,
lust of power, and idle talk;
But grant rather
the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love
to thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant to me to see my own transgressions,
and not to judge my brother;
for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.
- Syriac Christian Prayer of St. Ephrem, 353
Be Filled With Deep And Abiding Peace
Deep peace I breathe into you,
O weariness, here:
O ache, here!
Deep peace, a soft white dove to you;
Deep peace, a quiet rain to you;
Deep peace, an ebbing wave to you!
Deep peace, red wind of the east from you;
Deep peace, grey wind of the west to you;
Deep peace, dark wind of the north from you;
Deep peace, blue wind of the south to you!
Deep peace, pure red of the flame to you;
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to you;
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to you;
Deep peace, pure brown of the earth to you;
Deep peace, pure grey of the dew to you,
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you!
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
- Anonymous
What Is Your Service to the World?
God,
I’m willing
to do your work.
Please
show me what it is.
- Tami Simon, Boulder, Colorado
Everything Is Beautiful
In the house made of dawn.
In the story made of dawn.
On the trail of dawn.
O, Talking God.
His feet, my feet, restore.
His limbs, my limbs, restore.
His body, my body, restore.
His voice, my voice, restore.
His plumes, my plumes, restore.
With beauty before him, with beauty before me.
With beauty behind him, with beauty behind me.
With beauty above him, with beauty above me.
With beauty below him, with beauty below me.
With beauty around him, with beauty around me.
With pollen beautiful in his voice,
with pollen beautiful in my voice. It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
In the house of evening light.
From the story made of evening light.
On the trail of evening light.
- Navajo Prayer
All Roads Lead to the Same Great Truth
I believe in the fundamental truth of all
great religions of the world.
I believe that they are all God-given
and I believe that they were necessary
for the people to whom these religions were revealed.
And I believe that if only we could all of us
read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoints
of the followers of these faiths,
we should find that they were at bottom
all one and were all helpful to one another.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Compassion for All Who Suffer
Satveshu Maitrim Gunishu Pramodham
Klishteshu Jivehu Krupa Parathvam
Madhyastha Bhavam Viparita Vruthow
Sada Mamatma Viddhatu Deva
O Lord! Make myself such that I may have love for all beings,
Joy in the meritorious, unstinted sympathy for the distressed
And tolerance towards the perversely inclined.
O Lord! May my soul always find fulfillment, in friendship and love towards all beings,
In all the virtuous, in compassion toward all suffering creatures,
And in remaining neutral towards those hostile to me.
This is my prayer.
- Ancient Jain Prayer of Love for All
When You’re Broken Open
Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.
- Jelaluddin Rumi
Strength, Hope, Courage, and Love
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
- Daily Prayer [1941]
Before the Cross
O My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will,
but as You will.
Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying,
O My Father, if this cup
cannot pass away from Me
unless I drink it,
Your will be done.
- Matthew 26:39-42, Jesus’ Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, NSV.
Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Be kind,
for everyone
you meet
is fighting
a hard
battle.
- Ian Maclaren, 1898
For The Little Children
Father-Mother God,
Loving me,
Guard me when I sleep;
Guide my little feet
Up to Thee.
- Mary Baker Eddy
Suffer Us Not
Blessed sister, holy mother,
spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother,
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.
- Ash Wednesday, T.S. Eliot; 1927
Prayer for the Unity of All Peoples
