I thought that most people wouldn’t want to know the backstory of why I thought this was important to do in my life, and yet, it is important to me that people who use this site at least have the opportunity to know that story.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If I should die before I wake.
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
My introduction to prayer.
When I was REALLY young I said it by rote without thinking what it meant…without knowing what it meant.
As I grew older, I thought it was really kinda creepy: having a youngster talking about his own death.
I have always felt that I was a spiritual person; not religious…not a church-goer. I have some friends that are strident church-goers. I joked with them several years ago that I attended the “church of the mind”. And whenever we would get together or talk on the phone on Sundays, they would, without fail, bring up my “church of the mind”.
A SERVICE OF SONG
SOME keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches –a noted clergyman–
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of going to heaven at last,
I’m going all along!
This poem by Emily Dickinson was my reason, my proof, that it was OK… that I COULD be spiritual without having all the religious trappings.
Then one day about 15 years ago I was listening to an interview on NPR with a minister. I can’t remember the reason for this interview or the minister’s name, but I do remember that he said he thought people who said they were spiritual but not religious were a little disingenuous. These people did not believe they needed to do anything except live a good life and that was enough for salvation. He said that living a good life was part of well-being, but that you should also give thanks to whomever, or whatever, you believed in because life IS a blessing and as such you should give thanks for this blessing. He suggested that everyone should pray a simple prayer everyday giving thanks for at least three things.
That seemed reasonable to me. So, I added that to my “church of the mind”. I began praying everyday by giving thanks for three things.
But, once you begin to think about all of the blessings that each of us has to be thankful for only “three things” doesn’t cover them all. My daily prayer started off simply rotating the blessings I had in my life so that I didn’t exceed my Three Thing limit!
At sometime during the first year or two that I was doing this , I saw a book some guy wrote that said God wants you to be happy so don’t be afraid to ask God for more blessings in your life. So, I added that to my prayer, but mainly I simply asked for health and guidance. I also began to expand my Three Things to Three Subjects. For example, if I was thankful my sister Carol, I expanded that to say that I was thankful for my family and named each of them.
Over the years, this prayer of mine has expanded considerably. I am not sure if this has become a sort of meditation for me or not. I say that because I spend quite a bit of time each day with this prayer and it can have a meditative quality. I feel certain that this time I spend each day with my maker has helped me to know myself better and know the path my life should be headed more clearly.
So, “Why this?” I want to, if this website can help it to be so… I want others to have the ability to find their way in this world, as I feel prayer has done for me.