Prayer

"I hate you," I screamed.

As soon as I said it, I knew it was wrong.

The nurse said, "Your mother will have to leave if you can't settle down."

Oh, no! That's the last thing I wanted.  I was pounding my legs with my fists because they hurt so much.  At age five, I didn't know what was going on.

One day a man in a white hospital mask came in.

"Don't be afraid, I am Reverend Crozier from your church.  You know me, don't you ?"

Yes, I nodded.

" I have come to pray with you and ask the Lord to help you get better."

He put his hand upon my head and said some words in his beautiful deep  voice.

" Do you know  how to pray?"

Yes. We said The Lord's Prayer together.

He looked just like Michael Rennie.  I knew this because I watched countless old movies on the TV on Saturdays.

The thought crossed my mind, "Does this mean I am going to die? Is it just like the people in the movies receiving last rites from the priest?"

But no, I survived.  What I mostly remember about Reverend Byron Crozier is the depth of his faith and his belief in his prayer for me- so sweet and profound-Thank you.

I still pray, too.  Meditation is prayer of a sort.  I slow down my breathing, and open to any messages about my life or how to be a better person.  I ask for healing for those I know who are ill.  I give thanks for the life and relationships I have.

I wonder if people who have never had any religious instruction pray.  I think they do.

Prayer opens us up to the sacredness of life and helps us think of the other person.  We are reminded how lucky we are, and how beautiful the world can be.

Many things conspire to make us who we are.  If we bring a little consciousness to the process so much the better, whatever religion we follow or don't follow.

And someday I will die, the energy scattering across the universe, becoming a dazzle of light on the water, the wind that hurries the clouds across the sky, and hopefully, part of the sweetness that will live on in my children and grandchildren.

Namaste, Lia