PRAYER-WORN KNEES

Someday I am going to have astrologer Richard Nolle do a chart to determine if my destiny is, in fact, to serve only as a warning to others. ;o) Given the nature of my life, I believe that there really can be no other explanation. In this spirit I offer you the following post.

A book I highly recommend (well, mostly to women, anyhow) is Sarah Ban Breathnach's SIMPLE ABUNDANCE daybook. (Click here for my recommended reading list.) I have been reading this for about four years, and it never ceases to amaze me how there is always some new discovery in words that I have read so many times before. It is almost as if I read a new book each year.

Recent daily meditations have been on grace, prayer, and miracles. She notes that often we pray for the wrong things. For example, we pray for a soulmate, instead of praying to become worthy of the kind of lover we want to receive.

As I mentioned, I remember reading this section before. If I go back over my journals I am sure I could find other epiphanies and revelations that were brought to me by these meditations. But suddenly, in rather a bad light, I saw a part of myself that I had not fully understood before.

One of the reasons that we must always be ready to sacrifice our most cherished desires to the Divine is that often we must undergo great changes in order to be worthy of our own dreams. And while it is true that there are mundane, profane paths to certain destinies, to really become the magnificent, authentic creature you were meant to be, you must allow the Universe to do Its' work in shaping you.

One of the issues I have really been struggling with lately is my health. I have a concern, that while not fatal or dangerous, is very tiresome. I have been praying for miraculous healing and have been somewhat petulant that my healing powers-- which work rather well on others-- were not working on me. I realised that the life I have been living created this illness pattern. I must make changes because obviously, these patterns do not suit who I really am.

This put me in mind of an anecdote in Caroline Myss' WHY PEOPLE DON'T HEAL AND HOW THEY CAN. During a workshop she asked each participant to name what they would be willing to give up in order to get well. Many people stood up and listed addictions, habits, lifestyle choices, and even financial assets or possessions.

Then a woman stood up and reflected that she would like to travel more, spend more time with her family and friends, and not work so much. Myss pointed out that none of those things were sacrifices. (They are, in fact, the desires of most people.) Waiting until your desires are fulfilled or your life is exactly as you want it are not usually the paths to healing and wholeness.

I am a firm believer-- if not expert practitioner-- in the power of thoughts. I believe that we do create our own reality to a great degree in how we mentally see and respond to the world and the events in our lives. And I believe that we are perfect attractors-- magnets, if you will, drawing exactly what we truly are.

Taking full responsibility for one's current situation, regardless of how dreary it may be, is one of the foundations of creating an authentic life and finding one's true path.

For once responsibility is taken, prayer as suppliant begging will cease. Rather, the bended knee becomes that of the hopeful groom, offering the diamond promise of one's Self to the Beloved Dream.

Prayer is then no longer a demand, a plea, or a one-sided conversation. It is no longer the anguished entreaty for relief or repair. It becomes a proposal that Dream and Dreamer will share each other's lives, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, with no guarantees, but instead full responsibility, mutual acceptance, and the anticipation of authentic satisfaction and lifelong joy.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!