Prayers and Inspiration…
The Warrior’s Prayer
I am What I am In having faith in the beauty Within me, I develop trust In softness, I have strength In silence, I walk with the Creator In peace, I understand myself and the world In conflict I walk away In detachment I am free In respecting all living things, I respect myself In dedication, I honor the courage within me In eternity, I have compassion for the nature of all things In love, I unconditionally accept the evolution of others In freedom I have power In my individuality, I express the Creator’s force within me In service, I give what I have become I am what I am
Eternal, immortal Universal and infinite
And so be it.
The Old Man and Enlightenment
A young man had spent five arduous years searching for truth. One day, as he walked up into the foothills of a great mountain range, he saw an old man approach from above, walking down the path, carrying a heavy sack on his back. He sensed that this old man had been to the mountaintop; he had finally found one of the wise – one who could answer his hearts deepest questions.
“Please sir,” he asked. “Tell me the true meaning of enlightenment.”
The old man smiled, and stopped. Then, fixing his gaze on the youth, he slowly swung the heavy burden off his back, laid the sack down, and stood up straight.
“Ah, I understand,” the young man replied. “But sir, what comes after enlightenment?”
The old man took a deep breath, then swung the heavy sack over his shoulders and continued on his way.
CONCLUSION: A flash of enlightenment offers a preview of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what separates you from that state – your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs, false associations, and other mental structures. Just when our lives are starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse – because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done. After illumination difficulties continue to arise; what changes is your relationship to them. You see more and resist less. You gain the capacity to turn your problems into lessons and your lessons into wisdom.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
st. francis of assisi – 13th century
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.
mevlana jelaluddin rumi – 13th century
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
sufi mystic – jelaluddin rumi – 13th century
May today there be peace within. May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you….May you be content knowing you are a child of God…. Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you.
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide.
catholic – prayer to the guardian angel
Let my heart be the vessel of Divine Love.
Let my thoughts be the blossom of Divine Love.
Let my words be the expression of Divine Love.
Let my actions be the fulfillment of Divine Love.
willingness – david ridge
Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. (Mmm) It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. (Yeah) Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. (Yeah) But if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, (Yeah. Well) and that God is able (Yeah) to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace. (Mmm)
eulogy for the martyred children – martin luther king jr. – 1963
Permission granted by The King Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
People Are Often Unreasonable
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1979)
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
mother teresa
I am one with my father and the universe. I am one with mother earth. I am one with everyone within the reach of my voice. And, in this togetherness, we ask the divine intelligence to eradicate all negatives from our hearts, from our minds, from our words, and from our actions. And, so be it.
babatunde olatunji – 1927-2003
When my time has come and impermanence and death have caught up with me, When the breath ceases, and the body and mind go their separate ways, May I not experience delusion, attachment, and clinging, But remain in the natural state of ultimate reality
