Prayer

Happy Monday!  It’s a rainy day here in the resort town of Cobourg--the perfect day to catch up on chores, before I head into the city tomorrow.  Tomorrow, I get to spend the afternoon with my oldest daughter and although I lived in Toronto for nearly 30 years and she has been there all her life, we are going to pretend to be tourists and take the double decker bus tour and go to the Ripley’s Aquarium.

So, onto today’s topic of prayer.  My earliest memory of my mother was making beds with her in the morning and then kneeling on the bed to say morning prayers.  I am guessing that I was about 2 at the time and it instilled two things in me--the necessity of a made bed, and daily prayer.  And, yes, to this day, I need to make my bed every day and I still say prayers.

I generally say my prayers at night, as the end of the day is a great time to give thanks for all that I have and ask for forgiveness for any known and unknown transgressions.  I also slip in a request for all beings on this earth to have peace in their heart and soul, that will prompt all to share all the food and water, because I know that there is more than enough to sustain all in the world.  I also have to throw in a request for a windfall and I don’t mind working for it.  Millions of my books selling would be fine, or a simple lottery win would suffice.  I have so many people and charities that I plan to share with.

I never really got into morning prayer, although now that I am retired, there is no longer the excuse that I can’t fit it in before work.  I have thought about this often and feel that I am missing something by not having morning prayer, but then remembered that I actually do.  My morning routine includes work at my computer for a bit even before my daily exercise routine and shower.  At my computer, I do two main things.  I post Bible quotes on Twitter from daily e-mails that I get and I post a prayer on my Facebook business page.

The prayer rarely comes directly from me, I should point out, but before I post the prayer, I have read through several.  I always read the prayer from Daughters of the Creator, and I used to publish that one, with some modifications.  Lately, however, I have been finding some wonderful prayers on the http://www.lords-prayer-words.com website.  This site has prayers for pretty much anything you can possibly imagine--prayers for thanks, forgiveness, wellness, success, exams, new job, job interview, etc.  It is a great site.

So, at night I do my heart to heart prayer, and in the morning, I do a more specific prayer that I share with anyone who is in need of a prayer that aligns with the topic I have found that I need for the day.

The one thing that I truly regret, however, is that I did not instill praying in my own children.  They did attend Sunday school and we actually had a birthday cake at Christmas for baby Jesus.  But they never saw me pray and regretfully, I never spent the time at the end of the day to teach them to pray, so it has not become part of their daily lives.  This is quite unfortunate I think.  That isn’t to say that they do not believe in God and are not spiritual, but they don’t have the same daily connection that I have.  

Perhaps it is never too late. I will be ordained as a deacon for the Community Catholic Church of Canada in November and they will be attending.  Perhaps it will remind them of our roots in the church.

Well, my dear friends, I have other chores to get to.  I pray that you have a gentle week.  God bless!