Recently, I got to witness something truly beautiful. One man counseling another on how to pray. These men are dear friends. One is going through a kind of dark night of the soul, up at night, unable to sleep, in touch with all his mistakes. The man had never prayed and asked his friend what he might say. Here’s a little of what his beloved friend suggested:
Great Mother, hear my cry of anguish. Help me move away from these feelings of unworthiness and shame. Help me hear what I need to hear that will lead me to live in a way where I love myself and know that I am a reflection of Your limitless love.
Help me especially at night where the dark brings up those punitive messages and the feelings of failure and shame. Help steady me as I teeter on despair. Help me look at fear and see it as only a feeling, not an avalanche that will overcome me.
Help me listen so that I can hear the love that is coming at me from so many directions.
Help me listen to the messages that will instruct me what I should do to handle these feelings in a new way. Help me listen to the wisdom that will come to me – that will inform me about what I need to attend to that I have missed heretofore.
Give me the fortitude to listen and wait in the darkness, trusting that Your love will never abandon me.
Steady me, so that I stay in touch with loved ones and friends, even if I feel unworthy or lost.
Give me the faith to trust that You will guide me into a new way of relating to You. Give me the patience, even as I waver, to wait for your guidance. Give me the presence of mind to see Your messages coming to me from sources that I have not availed myself in the past.
Comfort me in my awkwardness with being so raw and disoriented. Steady my nerves so that I can stay open to what this new untried state of being is teaching me. Remind me that You are never far away – it is only my fear that says You are far from me. Remind me that my feelings are so much smaller than Your Love.
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Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash