"The Day After" an intentional prayer

The day after 9/11, a friend wrote this while at a prayer service where everyone was asked to write down their intentions. I immediatley copied it down to keep because it was beautifully written and thought it could be applied to our lives at any time, not just after this unforgettable tragedy. I found it in a box tucked away

in a closet the other day and when I read it again, I thought about the financial crisis our country and the rest of the world is experiencing. As individuals, we are all hit by this in one way or another, but what concerns me is the fear that the media and our government has created in many of us. Fear and worry creates more of the same, so I hope we can all look at our lives and find the positives and move forward each day being thankful for what we have. President Obama's address to congress last night was very optimistic and promising for our future...we should all pay heed to this.

"I pray that we not react in kind, do not feed this insane mentality. I pray that we not add to out collective world hatred, that we not fuel this loveless blind force, this hubris that has always been a part of the human story. Rather, I hope we can make all the more effort to heal ourselves by forgiving each other, releasing our own bonds of hatred, jealousy, and fear of one another, and let love in.

I pray that we ask to be filled with Love, that we be silent and listen for it, and while we patiently wait for this Love that can heal every wound, that we make an act of will, a choice to make all the more effort to reach out, communicate, be kind to those in need, to those who are different from ourselves, and to look at each other not as strangers, but as connected and one with each other and our creator. Let us not be afraid of each other, but rather, ask God, Great Spirit, our higher power or higher self, Buddha, Love - whoever or whatever we believe in, to be filled with Love, the kind of unconditional love that our grandmothers seem to shower on us - and the kindness, respect and every good thing that flows from it.

And the courage not just to think or speak or write about this love, but to live it. Smile more, laugh more, breathe deep, hug a new friend. Despite all this or maybe to spite all this, "Keep on Trustin".