Two-thousand
and sixteen has been a challenging year for me. Personally, professionally, and politically.
I got
through it with persistence,
perseverance, and prayer.
The first
two are second nature to me. I’m a stick-to-it person.
The last is hard. I’ve
never had a home with ritual prayer, though the creator knows I’ve tried.
Attempting proscribed prayers left me emptier and feeling like a phony. Personal prayer leaves me feeling like a false friend—one who talks to you only when they have a need. prayer, like this whole last year, has been hard for me.
Attempting proscribed prayers left me emptier and feeling like a phony. Personal prayer leaves me feeling like a false friend—one who talks to you only when they have a need. prayer, like this whole last year, has been hard for me.
So here
goes, anyway:
May
two thousand and seventeen be the year of personal courage, professional
clarity, and may our leaders be not clever and smart, (a given, if they got to
where they are) but wise.
* As
they say on Sesame Street, this post was brought to you by the letter P *
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. I pray for this too, Mikra, for all of us. And I hope this year will be more prayerful for you. May all good angels and saints come to your aid. V.
ReplyDeleteYour prayers must have worked, Vijaya, as your post came through!
DeleteThat's a great wish for 2017!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you, Mirka. I'm sorry it's been such a hard year. I, too, am praying 2017 will be better. (And, yes, I too struggle with prayer at times, although I believe in it and do it.)
ReplyDeleteYes, 2016 was a hard year for many. I don't really pray much, but I'm trying to face this new year with as much optimism as I can...for what that's worth.
ReplyDeletePrayer can be powerful. Glad you chose that. It's a lost art. C.S. Lewis has so many good quotes on prayer: “We are always completely, and therefore equally, known to God. That is our destiny whether we like it or not. But though this knowledge never varies, the quality of our being known can….Ordinarily, to be known by God is to be, for this purpose, in the category of things. We are, like earthworms, cabbages, and nebulae, objects of Divine knowledge, But when we (a) become aware of this fact--the present fact, not the generalization--and (b) assent with all our will to be known, then we treat ourselves, in relation to God, not as things but as persons. We have unveiled. Not that any veil could have baffled his sight. The change is in us. The passive changes to the active. Instead of merely being known, we show, we tell, we offer ourselves to view.”
ReplyDelete― C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
All the best to you this year.
Oh, I like that: wise rather than clever and smart. The Sesame connection makes a cute addition, too. Hope your words for this year all turn out wonderful, Mirka.
ReplyDeleteA wise prayer from a wise and wonderful friend! And prayer does make a difference - of that I am certain. Thank you for this post, Mirka.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a much better year ahead, Mirka! What I wish for myself is also personal heroism.
ReplyDelete