I AM Prayer

 * note that italic portions are commonly known prayers

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through the belief of Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

 

I am Prayer.

 

I was in the beginning – hope articulated- the Prayer, “Let there be.” And there was.

That’s what I do. It is my purpose, my mission, my God-given gift

Transforming  - hopes, dreams, thoughts, wishes, grumblings, sentiments, ideas, heartache;

From what they are to what they will be.

 

Over the eons I have been:

Whispered on lips,

 proclaimed with gusto

moderated by scripted words

extemporaneously emitted

 

I’ve been said, stammered, and shouted:

Lying down, standing up, huddled in the corner of a prison-cell;

In a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse, here or there, anywhere

On a boat, in a car, from a plane- from a plane, lots on a plane

Don’t let me die.

Help!

Thank you!

 

I love being Prayer.

Raw emotion beyond human ability to satisfy, calm, or wrestle into submission-

That feeling of effervescent excitement bubbling up and exploding

The experience of prolonged concentration on an intention

The exhausting journey of embodying sighs too deep for words

 

As a thought – I am in the beginning, where spirit moves over the waters;

As articulated word - I am created

Prayed- I am set free to act; released I belong to the universe;

Let go from bondage to sin - bondage to hearts, hands, heads, of humans and creatures,

-Whether meant or not meant, visible or invisible, serious or not serious-

Articulated and prayed I am set free; I am sanctified, redeemed to live my best life

Purposely prodding, championing change, willing wholeness

That’s me!

My name is Prayer.

I am fierce. I am passionate. I am about changing lives.

 I am about creatures and humans participating, acting, and wearing their prayers.

Festooning the world with garlands made of the cries of the poor, laments of injustice, odes to peace, wails of grief,

…poking, prodding, championing, willing… the human heart to change

Transforming word, the cries, the laments, the odes, the wails -to action

 

I am always on the move.

Winding my way, riding the currents of time,

I find myself in unexpected places -

 I get caught in the mouths of politicians blowing hot-air, unnoticed I have been breathed through them, changed them for a moment, then spat out to weave my way to another;

 I am in the wave that mysteriously whispers through the forest leaves, an active soundwave inspiring - transforming the hearts of the next generation of climate activists;

nestled in the breeze I gently grace faces and shoulders, I’m there in a moment of cooling comfort, warming gratitude, a pleasant pause.

And on the winds of time, I am carried to the corners of the earth,

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer…and I’m in the hospital resting with the dying;

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer…and I am present with those intentions sent to the battlefield;

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer…and I am in an official office focusing on the hearts and minds of the powers that be;

And on the winds of time, I am carried beyond the corners of the earth, to the moon, to the great beyond.

 

I am Prayer.

I am beautiful.

Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam 

Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe…

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto 

Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…

Subhaan Allah, Alhamdo lillah, Allaho Akbar 

Glory to Allah, all praise belongs to Allah, Allah is the greatest…

Hebrew, Latin, Arabic – these are accents of my personality

Enduring, Beautiful, Faithful offerings I reverberate – dancing glory, praise, awe, joy

 

I am born,

as Prayer through the tax collector, the Pharisee, the on-looker;

resurrected appropriately, inappropriately, by both judge and the judged

Is there a hierarchy of form -no

Is there one better than another - no

Is there form that God does not hear - no

Is a prayer, is a prayer, a prayer? - yes

So---

You do you. -with serenity, accept the things you cannot change, courage to change the things you can, wisdom to know the difference. Live one moment at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as you would have it

You do you.

I’ll do me.

In the name of God, I promise

To have and to hold – you – to embody your intimate feelings, sighs, and thoughts;

For better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish you by being the me – the Prayer- you articulate and birth into the world.

 

I will bear your hopes and dreams, your fears and failings, your helps and thank yous, your heartache and pain, your joys, your love, your confessions, petitions, and intercessions.

And I will weave them – transform them

Every particle, every thread

 to BE

An instrument of God’s peace

Where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness/light; where there is sadness, joy.

To BE woven connection

Where God is our maker, our lover, our keeper.

Where all creatures and humans become

God’s kindom, prayers in themselves joined in relationship, community

Where all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that

By God’s grace all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

I live for that day. I work for that time.

This Prayer’s prayer, my hope is

Wholeness in the tapestry of life – past, present, future

Blanketing the world with shalom aleichem, pax tecum, As-salaam alaikum, peace be with you.

 

For the kindom, the power, and the glory are Gods.

Now and forever. Amen.