'Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky ~ up, up, up ~ into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to it's blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer.'
~ Anne of Green Gables ~
When I pray I slip out into the wild rhythms and exquisite beauty of nature and breathe in that holy feeling of limitlessness with it's magnificent pull on my heart. A chorus of cicadas, the morning honeyed light of the sun, sea, raven, moon, bluest sky, rippling horizon and all the while exhaling green.
'Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
The other morning I was thinking how wonderful it would be to float down a river on my back for miles and miles, every breath a reverent and present cry of gratitude and amazement for being alive in this world. Drenched and golden, intoxicated but serene. In the evening I would fall asleep under a giant Sequoia tree with moon glow on my cheeks aroused with wonder.
Other times I slip into a temple, or a cathedral and rest in the incensed silence of space where there are no impulses, only the present. The silence gets under my skin and time stretches and bends and folds back into a circle and finally dissolves. A meditation or Savasana. A sacred pause, without contemplation, only vibration and an infinity of love...just feeling my prayer.
How do you pray?
x&o
maddie
i love this quote, thank you!
ReplyDeletei pray best in nature too
i love to float in the sea, ears underwater, hearing the waves move me, the sands shift (and sometimes coral crunching, when I visit those warmer seas)....my eyes taking in the big sky, my toes the only break in the view of BLUE sea, sky and mountains
breathing in the energy that surrounds me, supports me....asking and receiving
with HOPE
this was like a poem christy ~ exquisite!
DeleteBeing Catholic, I pray on my knees more often than not. For me, that is how I show humility and respect for the Divine. But I also pray every morning at my kitchen table, with the day's readings, head in my hands, just me and God. I too find that nature evokes the loudest silent cries of spontaneous joyful prayer - my gratitude for such unquantifiable beauty. "Pray without ceasing" (as St. Paul said) where ever you are.
ReplyDeleteI was deeply considering your words (I was raised Catholic, now Buddhist) but the words 'show humility and respect' touched me ~ the body bowing in honor of such love for the divine ~ a bit like the eyes
Deletehow they cry when we are moved because the body can't contain the emotion
and then this
'nature evokes the loudest silent cries of spontaneous joyful prayer'
made me sit upright ~ prayer is, it truly is spontaneous and joyful
xoxo
thank you for these words
Here's my daily prayer. (It was published in a book right next to a prayer from the Dali Lama so I took it as a sign it was acceptable!) I like to prayer any place, any time and view my life as a prayer.
ReplyDeleteDear Heavenly One,
Please help me accept love
as it is given
even though it may not
come in the package
I requested.
I remember sitting in your kitchen and being so in awe of the love and energy flitting back and forth between you and your daughter Amanda
Deleteall that light! all that love!
and I remember you speaking these words to me and I have never forgotten them
Your book is all about this ~ love in all it's mysterious forms and ways of arriving:)
xoxo
movement, silence, reverie, dance, yoga, sex, cuddling, being, writing, being at the beach, or near a tree, or under the sun or rain, in synagogue, or not, eating, drinking, watching an amazing film, listening to music (singing, dancing)...
ReplyDeleteliving is prayer. just gratitude and love, really (feeling, yes). sometimes I forget, but I usually remind myself sooner or later.
<3
YESSSSSSSS!!!
Deleteour lives are our prayers! our art! our celebration of the gift of just being here!!!
:)
these days, in the birdsong sway of wind whispers, intoxicating smell of lilacs and roses and the tiny unfurling of plantings in my garden, the earth at my fingertips. xo
ReplyDeletebeautiFUL
Deleteas always
you
unfurl and plant and sway
in prayer
For me praying has become a ritual for me...sometimes I pray when I go for a walk...but most of the time I light up a canddle, in front of my altar, and I pray and meditate in silence in my room...there's a small bible that my grandfather gave me when I was nine that I like to hold...I feel his presence and wisdom and his unconditional love.
ReplyDeleteGaby
sending love your way Gaby
Deletethe missing is something that can never be filled
but I know how holding something they loved can bring you back
to them ...all those molecules still flying around and love never
passes away
I love altar's and how they are so different for everyone. And fire, I think it is possible I lose myself in time the most when by a bonfire ~ so hypnotic and ancient and peaceful
xoxo
I open my mouth and talk to God. He's always there listening...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. ;)
so true, yes?
Deletethe Divine is always 'present' listening,
thank you so much for your sweet words:)
I agree with you Maddie that living artfully & mindfully is a prayer in itself. I have never felt more strongly about this than I do right now (cosmic shift?) and I'm paying attention and giving reverence to ordinary- everyday- beautiful. xo
ReplyDeleteyes!
ReplyDeletebe the prayer!
be the poem!
your life is your art!
it's all devotion and gratitude and
l ❤ v e
❤
my favorite prayer is from india, the religion unknown - which i admit makes me happy. i found it in a book eons ago and i say it often. in my jeep, when i round a curve and a lake opens itself before me, standing under a tree when baby owls make their way onto the limbs overhead, outside my door when the wind blows hard and i cannot resist its caress.
ReplyDelete"thou art everywhere, but i worship thee here . . ."
Prayer is living, it happens so very often for me. All that has to happen is a feeing of gratitude, a prayer always follows.
ReplyDeleteI talk to God constantly creating art, listening to music, feeling nature.......always!
You are a beautifully magnificent writer !!!!
I keep coming back to watch this little film. It reaches deep inside of me and brushes softly against something hidden. I do not know what it is, longing or hope or...and so I continue to watch this and cry and whisper words of love and belief to the dream that is waiting to blossom. I trust that it will make itself known to me when I am ready to embrace it.
ReplyDelete