Invocation for the Beginning of a Gathering By the grace of countless beings we are here, thank you by the grace of this heavy planet, we are here, by the grace of sunlight warming everything, by the grace of mystery beyond all we can know, we are here, thank you. By the grace of a […]
Writings related to ‘Prayer’
Walking with Abraham
October 30th, 2005
HARRAN, TURKEY It feels like the middle of nowhere – a rainy night, a poor neighborhood of scattered mud-brick and cement-block houses, puddles forming in the unpaved streets – but it was here in Harran, in what is now southeastern Turkey, that the religions of half of humanity had their beginning. In this place some […]
In the Fourth World
January 6th, 2004
MAE LAN KHAM COMMUNITY FOREST, SAMOENG, THAILAND Pati Daiya, the village headman, held the chicken gently next to the Water Spirit’s bamboo shrine, her wings folded against her body. He prayed, and while he prayed he reached behind his back to the sheath containing his square-ended machete. Without hesitation he thwacked the chicken hard on […]
The Believer’s Candle
November 24th, 2003
DAMASCUS, SYRIA Our pilgrimage to Syria left many traces on our hearts of realities deeper than headlines. In this letter I would like to describe three images that particularly touched me during the journey. These are images of people praying. I have always been drawn to the company of people at prayer – Hindu or […]
Being Alone
September 2nd, 2003
HELL ROARING CANYON, UTAH At the moment Rabia and I are waiting in the silence near a remote canyon in the Great Basin Desert of southeastern Utah. We are waiting for a small group of people we have guided out here to return from their three days of solitude and fasting. This is day two. […]
If Only I Had Wings to Fly
February 9th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ I woke up at 5:30 this morning to go out to the U.N. headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad with my friend Mohamed, an Iraqi driver and helper-with-all-things. He and I spent the last few days preparing an encampment for the Iraq Peace Team across the road from the U.N. We were expecting […]
Prayer for September 11, 2001
September 20th, 2001
PRAYER FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 Oh God pray for us, God beyond the God we don’t believe in, oh God who beats our hearts, who blinks our eyes, the One who flames the billion billion stars and cries our tears, oh God of infinite mercy pray for us as we die, we who are caught […]
