Prayerful Presence: Right Here, Right Now

Today I am grateful for last evening's fire in our fire pit and this morning's need for a sweatshirt. They are both signs of the cool weather I love. I don't want to hasten the days along, but this is the time in summer I really start looking forward to fall weather.

Don't hasten the days. Don't overproduce and under-experience today. Prayerful presence can help me stay right here, right now. I grew up praying like a good Catholic girl is taught to pray--before meals, in church on my knees. when we started out on a car trip; times like that. Often, it seemed more like a chore than a calming activity.  Still, I picked up some comfort from the practice and certainly saw my parents, Mom especially, model the power of prayer.

My troubled teens and early adulthood found me on again/off again concerning practicing prayer in my life. It was intense emotional pain and the need for surrender that figuratively and literally brought me to my knees. The last thirty years or so, prayer has made its way into my daily practices and recovery. Some days I feel the prayers more deeply, feel a powerful connection. Some days it is more rote recitation. I am already up in my head on those days.

Either way, a pause in prayer is a pause that helps. I have many prayers that I call upon and that call upon me. I create my own prayers too. That little Catholic girl somehow missed that lesson--prayers can be our own versions, not just the ones in the books or created by someone holier. We are all holy and precious beings. 

One of my favorite prayers created by someone else is The Other Prayer of St. Francis. It is in this post I wrote in April of 2012, in my first month of blogging.

And the prayer I will close with today:  Right here, right now.