"Peace does not come through prayers; we humans have to
create peace," is currently being Tweeted widely, attributed to the Dalai
Lama. That quotable statement makes me ponder prayer in general, how we pray
and what we pray for.
The words of prayer frequently roll off our tongues. If we
could make windows into men's souls, would we see those words also rolling off
our souls?
We pray to praise and thank God for the blessings of this
life. We pray to unburden ourselves to God about our deepest losses and most
regrettable transgressions. We pray to ask God for more gifts and
interventions.
The words often take the form of "Lord, Grant us
_______," and the missing word commonly is "peace." The quote
attributable to the Dalai Lama inspires me to wonder if "Incline our
hearts," asking God to transform our desires to those that align with God
who is Love, Peace and the Way, might not be the better prayer.
The most profound prayer I have ever heard was taught by a
nun in a women’s gathering. She said, “Lord, Give me the desire to desire to
_______.” “To forgive, to love my enemy, to be generous” . . . you get the
idea.
St. Francis said, "Lord, make me an instrument of your
peace." I think he got it right.
Some questions for further meditation: Does my heart inhabit
my prayers? Do my prayers change my heart? Do my prayers signify a relationship
with the Living God?
No comments:
Post a Comment