by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
These were written when I was on a
sufficient-to-be-hospitalised manic high. I am manic/depressive, mostly
depressive. They do not represent my usual conscious thoughts. I post them
because I valued these words most highly at the time I "channelled"
them. To me now, they seem saccharine and insincere. That also applies to a
lesser extent to the Wisdom, Enlightenment, and Proverbs.
Why Pray?
Why bother to pray if God reputedly knows your heart even before you open your
mouth?
- A prayer gives God permission to clean up one of your messes.
- A prayer reminds you to get out of God’s way.
- A prayer opens your mind to a solution that actually works.
Gift of Doubt
Dear God,
Please teach me to give the benefit of the doubt.
Break It To Me Gently
Dear God,
Please, gently open my mind. Make me aware of my errors, without overwhelming me.
Please, show me better ways to get what I want without hurting others.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Dear God,
Please, tell me the secret name you wish me to call you today that I may keep it
holy.
Planetary Consciousness Prayer
Dear God,
By example, let us teach forgiveness, apology, caring and concern for the whole
planet.
Cosmic Consciousness Prayer
Dear God,
Let us respect all God’s names. We apologise for all we have done wrong,
unconsciously, inadvertently and deliberately. We forgive for all we have done
wrong, unconsciously, inadvertently and deliberately.
Permission Prayer
Dear God,
You have my full permission to correct any of my errors and to block me from
doing anything really stupid.
Patience Prayer
Dear God,
Please teach me that you God, know the best time to grant my prayers.
Dovetail Prayer
Dear God,
Please teach me to patience to fit my prayers in with everyone else’s.
Gentle Prayer
Dear God,
Please, Gently open our minds; gently open our hearts.
Emergency Prayer
God, please tell me what I should do.
Yet Another Serenity Prayer
Dear God,
Please grant me the serenity to change those things that must change, the
courage to accept those things that must not change, for now, and the common
sense to known the difference.
Serenity Prayer, Emergency Form
Dear God,
Should I tolerate this?
Shoelace Prayer
Dear God,
Lou Doe needs help. His/her life is a mess. It’s like a
wet shoelace that has dried and pulled into a tight knot. Please soften the
laces so Lou can easily untangle it.
Thank you.
Smokers’ Prayer
Dear God,
What should I do to distract myself from this desire for a smoke?
Quadran Grace
Thank-you God, for the bounty, beauty and wonder of our island. Let’s not
spoil it.
Ann’s Prayer
I already know that a fancy desert can have strong appeal, and it is not good
for me. Similarly I understand that I can be strongly attracted to men whom I
know are not good for me.
Let me resist the temptation to be guided by my desires, and instead let me be
guided by wisdom in seeking a partner. He might have no more flash that a plate
of steamed broccoli, but in the long term may he deeply nourish me and I him.
Personal Prayers
Roy’s Prayer
Dear God,
Please teach my voice to sing you. Saya cinta kamu. [I love you, in Bahasa
Indonesia]
Thanks,
Roy
composed for Roy Nikijuluw of the Netherlands
Joyce’s Prayer
Dear Bud,
Thank you for all the opportunities you have offered me to love and serve.
Please teach me to pass them on to others rather than try to do them all
myself.
Love,
Joyce
composed for Joyce Cousins of Quadra Island
Roedy’s Prayer
Dear Allah,
Please help me find a comfortable modest rural home with wood heat or something
even more ecologically sound.
Please steer me to broad-minded loving friends, right livelihood and an ethical
lifestyle.
Please let me join my lifetime partners who are supportive of my desire to be a
planetary citizen.
I’d like a little kinky sex too where no one is harmed or alarmed.
Please help defuse the tense situations between myself and others, particularly
Ian, Wendy and Jimmy.
Love(,)
Roedy
composed for Roedy Green
Your Prayer
I would be happy to compose a prayer for you and post it here. Just email me
telling me the problem. A good prayer has to work out well for everyone, not
just you. You don’t want to be so specific you tie God’s hands. The
answer to the prayer should make you a more effective planetary citizen. I
suspect that the more people see your prayer the faster it gets handled, since
other voices get added to yours.
Prayer Errors
There are errors in two famous prayers — the Serenity Prayer and St.
Francis’s Prayer beloved of Mother Theresa.
The classic Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer goes like this:
God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage
to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Other than forgetting to say please, the prayer, if taken literally, encourages
people to randomly change anything they can in a wild thrashing to solve
problems. Further, people usually have quite enough courage to make changes;
what they lack is the serenity and tact to effect them. Finally, with sufficient
time, nearly all things change of their own accord. There really is no such
thing as something that cannot change. The following reformulation of the prayer
avoids these difficulties. This formulation also makes it clearer that there is
plenty of middle ground where change is optional.
Dear God,
Please grant us the serenity to change those things that must change, the
courage to accept those things that must not change, for now, and the common
sense to known the difference.
Mother Theresa prayed that the poor should be delivered food "through
our hands". Taken literally, this would condemn the poor to misery
since the nuns could not possibly deliver sufficient food solely through their
hands. The Sisters of Charity should pray instead that the poor be given the
ability to feed themselves and that the nuns should augment and fill in any
cracks.
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