Valley Rise Up: 7 Prayers for a More Restful Evening

There are only two ways to live your life, Einstein said. One is as though nothing's a miracle. The other's as though everything is. A miracle. Imagine waking up tomorrow and living as though everything's a miracle. Imagine walking down the street, heading into work, as though everything's a miracle. Isn't that the point of it all? The point of faith and hope and human being?

Merton borrowed a similar phrase from an old William Blake poem: "Everything that is, is holy." And I wonder if this isn't the very heart of Jesus' teaching, and the heart of Rumi's and Maimonides' too. Consider the lilies, and the lofty redwoods. Turn toward the birds in the breeze, the tiny songbird and the proud pelican. "Everything that is, is holy."

A choir sings "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." A poet imagines abundance and resistance, even now, in the empire's maw. Two ways to live, Einstein said. We choose the miracle. We choose the planet. We choose one another.

So sure, the evening news stings, and cynicism bites hard. And yes, tyrants thunder and zealots rage. But we meet their cynicism with love, agape, the kind of love that resists and transforms and blesses. Without reservation. And we meet their hopelessness with gratitude and joy. "Everything that is, is holy." So we break bread with friend and foe. Alleluia. And we wash the feet of the poor and the proud. Alleluia. And we sing freedom songs, anthems to peace, hymns to the inscrutable and immeasurable Maker of All that Ever Was and Will Be. Alleluia.

The miraculous is all around us, and deep inside us. There is, indeed, holiness in the world. It's in the golden sun, setting over the hallowed hills. It's in the warm summer wind, and the beggar's plea for grace. It's everywhere you turn. "Everything that is, is holy." So watch closely. Pray without ceasing. Surrender fear. And cast your lot with all those who say YES!

WELCOME to VALLEY RISE UP: a blog exploring faith and wonder, ethics and passion. If you find something helpful here, anything helpful here, I hope you'll take it along and make it work for you. More than anything else, I see myself as a spiritual guide and mentor for seekers and believers. In a beautiful and befuddling world, faith offers courage, resilience and tenderness. At least it does for me. On the side, I love to read and write poetry, and I've written a number of hymns and songs as well. In VALLEY RISE UP, I try to keep the conversation alive, exploring grace, peacemaking, human yearning and hope.

A Song of Joyous Resistance

Deep valley gonna rise up
Big mountain gonna fall
Deep valley gonna rise up
Big mountain gonna fall
Deep valley gonna rise up
Big mountain gonna fall
Gonna be level ground, by & by!

Swords pounded into ploughshares
Bombs into bread and wine
Swords pounded into ploughshares
Bombs into bread and wine
Swords pounded into ploughshares
Bombs into bread and wine
Global feast, blessed peace, by & by!

Dry bones are gonna dance, dance
Captives be runnin' free
Dry bones are gonna dance, dance
Captives be runnin' free
Dry bones are gonna dance, dance
Captives be runnin' free
Sea to sea, dancin' free, by & by!

Tune: Lattimer (Spiritual)

"If the inner life is great," said Meister Eckhart 800 years ago, "the outer life will never be puny." Eckhart and others talk about two dimensions in prayer: the horizontal (connecting us in lovingkindness to others) and the vertical (uniting us in love with the Source of all that is and will be). The two intersect in stillness, in reflection, in meditation, in prayer. And this kind of practice is cultivated, tended like a garden, through daily experience and circles of support. There are so many ways into a practice of prayer. For some of us, silence is the key; for others, it's movement, yoga, tai chi, qi gong. The key seems to be discipline, and steady practice. It's a wild and noisy world out there, so find a place and time to step aside and pray. And do it often.

THOMAS MERTON'S PRAYER

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Friday, August 27, 2010

7 Prayers for a More Restful Evening