Stop, Look, Listen and PRAY

Here's a nice prayer I found while searching the Internet the other day, so I thought I'd share it with you.

We need to STOP...this would be the 'silence' parts in this prayer...stopping is a good thing when praying because it should cause us to think about what we just read and/or prayed.

Then we need to LOOK at what we read one more time to remember.

Next comes the part where we 'LISTEN" to the good ways that this can help us make this world a better place.

Following all those steps means we have truly PRAYED!

"Litany for Peace

January 27, 2010



by Thich Nhat Hanh

from the book Prayers from Around the World and Across the Ages

by Victor M. Parachin


As we are together, praying for Peace, let us truly be with each other.

(Silence)



Let us pay attention to our breathing.

(Silence)



Let us be relaxed in our bodies and our minds.

(Silence)



Let us be at peace with our bodies and our minds.

(Silence)



Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves.

(Silence)



Let us maintain a half smile on our faces.

(Silence)



Let us be aware of the source of being common to us all and to all living things.

(Silence)



Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion—toward ourselves and toward all living beings.

(Silence)



Let us pray that all living beings realize that they are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same source of life.

(Silence)



Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each other.

(Silence)



Let us plead with ourselves to live in a way which will not deprive other living beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chance to live.

(Silence)



With humility, with awareness of the existence of life and of the suffering that is going on around us,

let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and on earth.



Amen."



You may need to click on this (or put it under a microscope) to enlarge this and read it as I am having trouble reading it now...

Every prayer should end this way, even those prayers where we are anxious or asking for help, hmm, maybe I should say ESPECIALLY those prayers should end this way for that is what love is all about...

Finally I leave you with a favorite photo that I seem to recycle because I just love it....

This was listed as humorous, but it is also very thought provoking...

"Memorial

Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else.

Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it." Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group."

It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do.

Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?

When you are asked to help this year, remember -- we can't depend on Someone Else anymore."

~~~Heavenly Father, I thank You for the blessings of doing little and sometimes big things to make this a world that is closer to the loving world it was meant to be.