Before you pray - Become - Shirvington Hannays
I have discovered and come to realize that effective prayer requires a State of Mind and Being filled with the PEACE that passeth Human understanding.
My quest for a better understanding of what life was all about started when as I child, I felt that my entire family and I, were all going to hell because God didn’t like us. This conclusion at that time was arrived at because it was clear he didn’t answer any of our many prayers we offered to him daily on our knees, eyes closed and face upward to heaven.
Praying and the need to pray was drilled into my head daily to be done before I went to sleep at night, when I woke in the morning, before I ate anything, before leaving the house and yes even at school before classes started for the day. More than twenty years later, I can safely say after more than ten years of conscious and consistent exploration, I have extended my concept of prayers and praying or acts of worship.
I now no longer pray for anything with words but continuously try to maintain a state of Mind and Being of gratitude for every experience or event I experience. This is in no way always easy or the ready response in every situation as I go about my daily practical living or when my ego and intellect demand a excess dose of attention.
This way of living and state of Being is becoming easier because of the conscious awareness and alertness that continuously fill me with renew gratitude. Which results in longer periods of complete acceptance of whatever maybe happening in my life. This also makes me more at peace with the concept now than when it was first introduced to me some twelve years ago.
I am now totally at peace with the notion that there is never ANYTHING to pray for hence I do not offer up any prayer to something or someone outside my Being. I may say THANKS or THANK YOU from time to time when the sense and feeling of gratitude is so intense that I may automatically verbalise my gratitude as a reminder to my self to consciously look around and observe more of the present moment. This continues to strengthen me to be more consistent in my willingness to be open and receptive to give up any previously held concept in place of new response in any given moment. Which then usually fosters harmony with whatever IS in the NOW moment.
This is what I now understand and know to be "be still and know...." and it is truly “the Peace that passeth Human understanding...” - Shirvington Hannays (http://www.smahoo.com/)
I have discovered and come to realize that effective prayer requires a State of Mind and Being filled with the PEACE that passeth Human understanding.
My quest for a better understanding of what life was all about started when as I child, I felt that my entire family and I, were all going to hell because God didn’t like us. This conclusion at that time was arrived at because it was clear he didn’t answer any of our many prayers we offered to him daily on our knees, eyes closed and face upward to heaven.
Praying and the need to pray was drilled into my head daily to be done before I went to sleep at night, when I woke in the morning, before I ate anything, before leaving the house and yes even at school before classes started for the day. More than twenty years later, I can safely say after more than ten years of conscious and consistent exploration, I have extended my concept of prayers and praying or acts of worship.
I now no longer pray for anything with words but continuously try to maintain a state of Mind and Being of gratitude for every experience or event I experience. This is in no way always easy or the ready response in every situation as I go about my daily practical living or when my ego and intellect demand a excess dose of attention.
This way of living and state of Being is becoming easier because of the conscious awareness and alertness that continuously fill me with renew gratitude. Which results in longer periods of complete acceptance of whatever maybe happening in my life. This also makes me more at peace with the concept now than when it was first introduced to me some twelve years ago.
I am now totally at peace with the notion that there is never ANYTHING to pray for hence I do not offer up any prayer to something or someone outside my Being. I may say THANKS or THANK YOU from time to time when the sense and feeling of gratitude is so intense that I may automatically verbalise my gratitude as a reminder to my self to consciously look around and observe more of the present moment. This continues to strengthen me to be more consistent in my willingness to be open and receptive to give up any previously held concept in place of new response in any given moment. Which then usually fosters harmony with whatever IS in the NOW moment.
This is what I now understand and know to be "be still and know...." and it is truly “the Peace that passeth Human understanding...” - Shirvington Hannays (http://www.smahoo.com/)
