Four Prayers

 

(I copied this from a Facebook post - I don't know who posted it. It is a traditional Buddhist practice of "metta", a form of prayer not requiring the belief that there is a Supreme Being, but simply wishing the release from suffering for self and others.)

Thirst – Mary Oliver (from the book Thirst) 

Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.



Celtic Prayer

You are the peace of all things calm
You are the place to hide from harm
You are the light that shines in dark
You are the heart's eternal spark

You are the door that's open wide
You are the guest who waits inside
You are the stranger at the door
You are the calling of the poor

You are my Lord and with me still
You are my love, keep me from ill
You are the light, the truth, the way
You are my Savior this very day.
 
you are god - celtic oral tradition - 1st millennium
 

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis 
c. 1915 A.D. Peace Prayer (originally written in French, possibly by a French priest; later attributed to St. Francis)

Lord make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred,
Let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, Joy.

O Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled
As to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
(Note: you can easily search for prayers from many faith traditions on this fairly new site: http://www.worldprayers.org/index.html.)