New Practice for a New Year

Begin with a Prayer

“Dear God, as I wake up this morning, may your spirit come upon me. May my mind receive your emanations, my soul receive your blessing, and my heart receive your love. May all those I meet or even think of on this day feel better for it. May I contribute peace. May I serve your purposes with all I say and do, today and always. Please show me how. Amen”

                                 Marianne Williamson (Illuminated Prayers)

Here's a good new practice for 2013: begin each day with a prayer. We seem to think that prayers need to be grandiose, and purposeful and only for other people. Sometimes the very best prayer is simply, Dear God. Or, Thank You. Whatever else may come in your day, beginning it by simply acknowledging God, and God's presence in all things, sets the stage for peace and tranquility within.

Prayers don't have to be flowery or flattering to God. They can be sighs, or silence. Holding one holy moment is enough to set your course for the day. When I thank God for a good night's sleep, and for a new day, I feel closer to the divine within me—my 'higher self'. When I say, “Thank you, God, that I can fill my tank with gas (or buy groceries, or refill my prescriptions, or pay my bills); let me never take this for granted,” I am reminding myself of the blessings that exist in my life right now. When I pass someone on the street who looks dejected, and remember to say, “God, bless that man with something good today. He looks like he needs it,” I am acknowledging God's action in the world. When I pray, “God, tell me what to say here,” I am understanding that I am simply an instrument and not the source. Such small prayers help me to remember that God is not only “out there”; God is also “in here”.

One of the most difficult lessons to learn in this life on Earth, is that we are not alone. We are never alone. Always, there is support from within and without if we will ask for it. We are, each of us, in constant contact with one divine source, one infinite power from which we came and to which we will return. When the world seems darkest, that light shines brightest.

                                              In the spirit,

                                                 Jane