THE EVOLUTION OF MY PRAYING

Growing up in the Catholic Church the rules and regulations were so demanding… but it was the dichotomy of the nuns behavior I had trouble understanding. How they could be so brutal in their attempts to make us surrender and obey… then turn around and act so angelic in the church pews as they pray. Every day I’d pray not to be beaten…or humiliated…that today’s storm I would weather… but my prayers went unanswered…so when I left the church I stopped praying altogether. It took me years to comprehend…to finally be able to see my prayers should be intended for others…they shouldn’t be meant for me. Now…I pray for a a world of peace…filled with joy and harmony and I pray for the health and safety of not only mine…but of every family. We have a friend who beat cancer once…only to recently learn…. after being in remission…her cancer has returned. So I add her to my prayers…in her time of shock, uncertainty and woe… I pray she will be here for years and years and years to watch her children grow. I pray this is not her final storm…just another squall…. and that sword of Damocles hanging above her and her family…I pray will never fall. I pray she lives a long and happy life….enjoying her friends and family… I pray this latest cancer….becomes a distant memory. Each day I pray for her and her family…that they be blessed with one day more… Because, as I have learned over the years,…that’s what my prayers are for. I have also learned this important lesson…in the life I choose to lead… the more I pray for others…the less prayers I seem to need. You’e welcome to add my friend to your prayers…and I will add your friends to mine… Perhaps, one day, we will live in the world most of us are praying for…. once all our prayers combine.