Prayers for Hard Times. Becca Anderson

voice, my voice, restore.

      His plumes, my plumes, restore.

      With beauty before him, with beauty before me.

      With beauty behind him, with beauty behind me.

      With beauty above him, with beauty above me.

      With beauty below him, with beauty below me.

      With beauty around him, with beauty around me.

      With pollen beautiful in his voice,

      with pollen beautiful in my voice. It is finished in beauty.

      It is finished in beauty.

      In the house of evening light.

      From the story made of evening light.

      On the trail of evening light.

      - Navajo Prayer

      All Roads Lead to the Same Great Truth

      I believe in the fundamental truth of all

      great religions of the world.

      I believe that they are all God-given

      and I believe that they were necessary

      for the people to whom these religions were revealed.

      And I believe that if only we could all of us

      read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoints

      of the followers of these faiths,

      we should find that they were at bottom

      all one and were all helpful to one another.

      - Mahatma Gandhi

      Compassion for All Who Suffer

      Satveshu Maitrim Gunishu Pramodham

      Klishteshu Jivehu Krupa Parathvam

      Madhyastha Bhavam Viparita Vruthow

      Sada Mamatma Viddhatu Deva

      O Lord! Make myself such that I may have love for all beings,

      Joy in the meritorious, unstinted sympathy for the distressed

      And tolerance towards the perversely inclined.

      O Lord! May my soul always find fulfillment, in friendship and love towards all beings,

      In all the virtuous, in compassion toward all suffering creatures,

      And in remaining neutral towards those hostile to me.

      This is my prayer.

      - Ancient Jain Prayer of Love for All

      When You’re Broken Open

      Dance, when you’re broken open.

       Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.

       Dance in the middle of the fighting.

       Dance in your blood.

       Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

      - Jelaluddin Rumi

      Strength, Hope, Courage, and Love

      Disturb us, Lord, when

      We are too well pleased with ourselves,

      When our dreams have come true

      Because we have dreamed too little,

      When we arrived safely

      Because we sailed too close to the shore.

      Disturb us, Lord, when

      With the abundance of things we possess

      We have lost our thirst

      For the waters of life;

      Having fallen in love with life,

      We have ceased to dream of eternity

      And in our efforts to build a new earth,

      We have allowed our vision

      Of the new Heaven to dim.

      Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

      To venture on wider seas

      Where storms will show your mastery;

      Where losing sight of land,

      We shall find the stars.

      We ask You to push back

      The horizons of our hopes;

      And to push into the future

      In strength, courage, hope, and love.

      - Daily Prayer [1941]

      Before the Cross

      O My Father, if it is possible,

      let this cup pass from Me;

      nevertheless, not as I will,

      but as You will.

      Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying,

      O My Father, if this cup

      cannot pass away from Me

      unless I drink it,

      Your will be done.

      - Matthew 26:39-42, Jesus’ Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, NSV.

      Practice Random Acts of Kindness

      Be kind,

      for everyone

      you meet

      is fighting

      a hard

      battle.

      - Ian Maclaren, 1898

      For The Little Children

      Father-Mother God,

      Loving me,

      Guard me when I sleep;

      Guide my little feet

      Up to Thee.

      - Mary Baker Eddy

      Suffer Us Not

      Blessed sister, holy mother,

      spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,

      Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood

      Teach us to care and not to care

      Teach us to sit still

      Even among these rocks,

      Our peace in His will

      And even among these rocks

      Sister, mother,

      And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,

      Suffer me not to be separated

      And let my cry come unto Thee.

      - Ash Wednesday, T.S. Eliot; 1927

      Prayer for the Unity of All Peoples