Burning through the Fog, the Sun is a Heart!

Burning through the Fog, the Sun is a Heart!

 

Check it out!
Doesn’t the sun
In this photo
Look
Like a heart?

It’s a prayer.

Prayer.

Wow. 
What to say?
What do I know
To be true?

In my life, 
For me:

Prayer does not change my reality.
Damn it, that’s true.
But it does soften
My grip on it.

When I’m zooming through my day, 
It is almost-but-not-quite-inevitable 
That I start constricting around 
What is happening.

Hunkering down.
Holding on.
Holding my breath,
Literally
And
Figuratively.

Prayer,
I believe,
Softens my grip,
Brings breath back,
Offers just a tad
Of relaxation,
To my body/mind.

Prayer allows
The flow of life,
That energetic river of happenings
To resume,
Allowing life
To move through 
More ease-fully.

It came to pass.
It didn’t come to stay.

When I’m not able to pray?
Which is most of the time, of course…
What happens?

I’m lonelier.
My mind gets a’galloping.
My body tightens.
My thinking gets faster
(Not a gift, that one),
Everything
Gets 
Harder.

Oh.  Wait.
What is a prayer?

Anything
Offered.

Any word,
Sound,
Phrase,
Gesture,
Movement,
Offered
Back.

Given away.
Released
Into the airwaves.

And so importantly,
Ah!  This piece—
To let go of the 
Outcome
Of
The 
Prayer.

That’s the work.
Because, truly,
What happens?

The outcome?

It’s not even my business.
It just feels that way.

Repetitive prayer for me
Is the jam.

I find myself these days
In the summer Berkshire traffic,
Singing little prayer/songs,
Little repetitive phrases.

It’s comforting and
It beats the heck out of mumbling under my breath
At the drivers around me
With out-of-state license plates.
~~~
Dear Friends,
What do your prayers look like?
What gifts do you get from prayer?
~~~
Here is Ellen Bass, poet, healer, wise woman, reading her poem, Pray for Peace.
A link to its text follows the audio:

Listen Here

Read Here