One of my mildly amusing jokes du jour has been to offer myself up to newcomers in general and - more specifically - to people struggling with the concept of spirituality as a temporary god. Temporary sponsorship is be more commonly offered but this is beneath me yet I'm not so arrogant to assume anyone will want to make me their permanent god. What I'm suggesting is that I'm A god, not The god. This is what passes for humility for me.
A surprising number of people have taken me up on this, with an even greater number agreeing to think about me all day. I'm skeptical they're actually following through but I'm still proud.
One of my friends who takes an inhuman amount of abuse from me - everyone, in other words - finally exasperated, said: "Why don't you try praying for me every day for two weeks."
I thought this was a great idea. I'm an ass but I do take direction. I forgot all about my promise the first couple of days but I see him frequently - his reminders were welcome and jogged my memory enough so that after that I really did pray for him every day. It was a surprisingly helpful exercise. I'm good at self-examination and meditation but I suck at prayer. It's simply not hip enough for me.
"There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practises can
bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically
related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life." 12 and 12
Once I got into the habit I was amused to see how much I had been missing by not having a more robust prayer life. I found that I quickly began to think more about other people that I knew and to add them to my prayer list. Just in my morning meeting I realized I knew people with health issues and family problems and new jobs and on-going divorces. I began to pray for them, too, and they are becoming bigger presences in my life.
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