PRAYER OF ONESELF
Author: Edward M. Hays -Taken From: "Secular
Sanctity" - Continued
At this point the old man was leaning closer to his guest..
His voice was filled with enthusiasm. "What I mean, stranger, is that
you must be able to see everything about you as good--your shyness,
your intelligence, your creativity, your physical size, the tone of
your voice, the shape of your nose, and even your baldness. There
must be no apologies or regrets. You must not wish to be that word or
this word, but rather totally accept and be grateful for that unique
word of God which is flesh in you! This is a most important part of
the cure, for unless you can begin to embrace and be thankful for the
word of God made flesh in you, you can never be true to it. You will
engage in that destructive wishing of desiring to be some other
word."
Again, there was silence in the small cabin. Outside the rain
seemed to have stopped, but the grey clouds hung low over the tree
tops and thunder rumbled on the other side of the mountain. The old
prospector rocked back and forth slowly in his old chair as he
watched the face of his guest. Once again, the old man began to
speak, "But if you wish to be true to your word, you will have to be
strong. Otherwise you will betray your word in the face of the
threats and pressures of society. To be true to yourself and who you
are supposed to be is perhaps the ultimate responsibility we each
have to bear in life. If God has entrusted us with a creative and
unique gift and if it is God's will that we be that special word,
then we must summon all the power we have to not be forced into some
common mold. Speak you own word loudly and with dignity. That is what
it means to submit to the will of God. To do the 'will of God' and to
pronounce you own special word, your own special self, is pure
prayer. It is also how we pray always, day and night.
Once you know these things that I have spoken, know them not
in your head but with your heart, then you can read any book and it
will be a holy book. Then you can sing any song and it will be a
sacred song. For when you are true to your special word and when you
are also true to his word, then what Jesus said will be true in your
life - that he ad the Father will come and make their dwelling place
with you, always! Then you don't go to church, you are Church. Then
you don't receive the sacraments, you are Sacrament!"
Having said that, the old, white-bearded man was silent. He
close his eyes and rocked silently in his chair. The rain had stopped
and now the sun in yellow ribbons fell between the dripping branches
of the green pine trees. The guest rose and began to put on his dried
clothing. For a long time he stood before the tall Victorian mirror
that hung by the cabin door. He stood there in silence looking at
himself in that old milk-edged mirror for minutes, or maybe it was
for hours. He had no way of knowing how long he had stood there. A
profound sense of peace and an abiding sense of communion with God
came upon him. It was a peace that was never to leave him again.
Still standing in front of the old mirror, he began to speak with
conviction and profound prayerfulness: "Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name...your kingdom.....your will be
done....."
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