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Sophy Burnham shares this story, told to her by her Hindu teacher. It comes from her book “The Path of Prayer:” “Once there was a dog who was set upon by a pack of wild dogs, snarling, biting. He fought his way free, his jaw broken, one foot crushed. He limped home, bleeding, and there he dragged himself to his owner’s feet, thumping his tail in the dust. And what does the owner do? He picks up his dog, carries him indoors. He takes him to the vet, who washes his wounds, sets his broken bones, gives him antibiotics. Every day the owner feeds his dog, gives him water, medications, a soft bed. He changes his bandages, and soon the dog gets well. The dog did not ask for anything. The dog merely presented himself. “For if you ask for a shirt,” said my teacher, “you will get a shirt, and if you ask for a pair of trousers, you will get a pair of trousers. But if you simply present yourself, every blessing will be yours.” That is how you pray, he said.” During the month of March we continue our Lenten Series. Each day for the 40 days of Lent we present ourselves – allowing God to be our refuge and our strength. We join Eric Butterworth in declaring that this is our time of “great believing.” We turn aside from the daily battle with those negative, limited thought structures that fill our minds and dominate our view of life and simply present ourselves to the Spirit of God within. The Spirit within is our courage and our strength, our love and peace, our source and sustenance, our self-worth, our oneness, our faith, our joy, our clarity, our forgiveness. We allow what is already present to be established in our midst. We give up the tug of war with the Truth of our being, and discover what has been there all the time. We turn around. This is the true meaning of redemption. We turn from untruth to truth…we turn from death to life…from darkness to light…from sorrow to joy…from silence to singing…from isolation to oneness. Hafiz the 14th century Persian poet says: “In the morning when I began to wake, it happened again—that feeling that you, beloved, had stood over me all night keeping watch, that feeling that as soon as I began to stir, you put your lips on my forehead and lit a holy lamp inside my heart.” This is prayer – I accept – I accept that I am loved, safe, whole, cared for and guided. Then I extend my prayer to include you in the knowing and acceptance that you are loved, safe, whole, cared for and guided. I continue to extend my prayer for the world knowing and accepting that we are loved, safe, whole, cared for and guided. Night and day we pray easily and effortlessly, as we were instructed, “without ceasing.” Simply knowing - placing ourselves in the Presence of the Divine Father/Mother, resting, allowing ourselves to be loved, allowing peace to settle us once again. “Into Your hands I place myself, knowing that that which is for my/your/ our highest good will come to me/you/all of us.” May the grace of Spring lighten your steps and open your heart,
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