This week's relaxation episode is a little different. As in previous episodes, we will do a little breathwork at the beginning, but instead of a story, this is a secular meditative prayer. It's a poem I stitched together from about a dozen references. I originally created it as a prayer for myself, and now I'm excited to share it with you!

The orginal works are listed at the bottom. See if you can identify each line's origins before you look! Full text below.

 

 

A Patchwork Prayer 

by Sarah Clarke

 

Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far, far away.

And grant me the serenity to change the things I can,

the energy to sing loud when I’m called,

And the courage to kneel when everyone else is marching.

 

Blessed are you among planets

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, humanity

Holy Universe, Mother of Life

Pray for us creatures

Now and at the hour of our re-birth

 

I’ll save that first path for another day…

But knowing how way leads on to way,

I’ll probably never come back.

And that’s okay.

It’s the life less traveled that makes all the difference anyway.

 

It can make you Real.

By the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes droop and you get very shabby.

But it’s okay.

Because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.

 

I understand.

I am covered in skin, same as you

No one gets to come in.

We must pull ourselves out…from the inside

We are folded up in fear…

But we are unfolding and unfolding, and stretching out

and always beginning again.

 

We are sentient beings, emotional animals, on this beautiful planet

 And that in itself is an enormous privilege and adventure.

There will be no one like you when you are gone…

Indeed, there is no one like anyone else…ever.

And there will be no one like me.

 

I’ve tried to be an instrument of peace.

Sowing love, offering pardon, fortifying faith in the face of doubt.

But I doubt… and I despair …and I wander into darkness sometimes.

There are times with no hope. Times with no light.

And that’s okay.

Because just around the corner, shines an even brighter light.

 

If only we could have more wonder and silence in our lives.

More play and puppetry and whimsy, Mister Rogers-style.

Because as the years pass, the sound of the silver bell falls silent for too many.

I just hope that when I grow very old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.

In the name of the mind, the spirit, and this holy patchwork of flesh.

Amen

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• Inspired by and quoted from: Jenny from Forrest Gump, Reinhold Niehbur, The Hail Mary (originis, Book of Luke), Robert Frost, the Skin Horse in The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, Adam Duritz of The Counting Crows, The Hail Mary (origins, Book of Luke), Oliver Sacks, St. Francis of Assisi, Fred Rogers, and Chris Van Allsburg

 

 

Music Credits: 

"A Second to Forget" by Emily Rubye

"Garden of Night" by Hanna Lindgren