A friend of great faith has asked many times, "If we don't pray to God as a Father, or as Jesus, to whom do we pray?" She asks this because I insist that, for me, there is no particular "face" or "person" of God. For me, their is a living Sacred Spirit that permeates the universe. I have prayed over and thought deeply about this disconnect in our discussions of prayer. This morning The Sacred Spirit came over me with an answer. I pray to the people who are the branches on the vine of responsibly compassionate people. These are the people who seem fed by The Sacred Spirit, no matter their religion, race, or region.
It is so much more difficult to humble ourselves enough to ask a person to help us than it is to pray to "God" and then have someone simply show up with hands to help. We owe no debt to "God," but we seem to feel dis-empowered by feelings of gratitude to another human. Do we feel that we have to pay back what we admit was done for us out of pure love or compassion?
It is my experience that there are few people who openly appreciate other people on a deep personal level, as if appreciation will make a person less humble, or will diminish one's own worth. There are also people who are uncomfortable with outspoken appreciation; is this because they are afraid of losing their own humility? Sadly, there are those who see open appreciation as a sign of weakness in the person showing it, and seek to exploit this vulnerability. I don't know what to say about these people, other than to avoid them.
If The Sacred Spirit is the water for the vine of full humanity, appreciation of every leaf is the sunshine that feeds more energy into the vine. The person who mops the floors can either celebrate The Sacred Spirit by doing the best job possible or can make mopping a punishment. This goes for every person doing every activity on earth. In Shakespeare the term, "I pray thee," is used. Perhaps we'd feel more imbued with The Sacred Spirit if we began saying to people, when asking for assistance, "I pray thee."
Don't forget to celebrate and openly appreciate the cook, the housekeeper, the babysitter, the janitor, the cashier, etc. when they do their jobs as celebrations of The Sacred Spirit inside themselves.
My prayer for Pentecost is that we learn to pray, not only over and with each other, but also to The Sacred Spirit in each of us.
It is so much more difficult to humble ourselves enough to ask a person to help us than it is to pray to "God" and then have someone simply show up with hands to help. We owe no debt to "God," but we seem to feel dis-empowered by feelings of gratitude to another human. Do we feel that we have to pay back what we admit was done for us out of pure love or compassion?
It is my experience that there are few people who openly appreciate other people on a deep personal level, as if appreciation will make a person less humble, or will diminish one's own worth. There are also people who are uncomfortable with outspoken appreciation; is this because they are afraid of losing their own humility? Sadly, there are those who see open appreciation as a sign of weakness in the person showing it, and seek to exploit this vulnerability. I don't know what to say about these people, other than to avoid them.
If The Sacred Spirit is the water for the vine of full humanity, appreciation of every leaf is the sunshine that feeds more energy into the vine. The person who mops the floors can either celebrate The Sacred Spirit by doing the best job possible or can make mopping a punishment. This goes for every person doing every activity on earth. In Shakespeare the term, "I pray thee," is used. Perhaps we'd feel more imbued with The Sacred Spirit if we began saying to people, when asking for assistance, "I pray thee."
Don't forget to celebrate and openly appreciate the cook, the housekeeper, the babysitter, the janitor, the cashier, etc. when they do their jobs as celebrations of The Sacred Spirit inside themselves.
My prayer for Pentecost is that we learn to pray, not only over and with each other, but also to The Sacred Spirit in each of us.
