Today’s Prayer to Passage comes from the book ‘Meditations from Conversations with God’ by Neale Donald Walsch. This is a book I utilize most often in my Prayer to Passage practice. It offers such succinct, wise guidance, and I truly feel the voice of God speak to my heart when I read from it.

I pray, “Dear God, There are moments when I feel anxiety. There are moments when I feel frustration. There are moments when I feel boredom. And there are moments when I feel loneliness. What is an empowering context that I can create to rise above all of these feelings?”

I opened the book to a passage from page 60:

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“There is a divine purpose behind everything, and therefore a divine presence in everything.”
—NEALE DONALD WALSCH

Amid all expected human feelings, I am happy. Always. All ways. I have owned happiness as mine all my life. When I feel alone, scared, upset, lost, or any number of startling dispositions, I do not call them “bad” or “wrong.” And I do call them into question. What is available to me through anxiety? A growing development of personal peace of mind. What is waiting to be revealed and acknowledged during frustration? My own resources, strength, and a willingness to see the situation as temporary. What will boredom lead me to? Something more fulfilling. What is missing among loneliness? New partnership for an added purpose.

In the moment, I might not be able to cure the feeling immediately. I can, however, set it aside. The feeling is still there, yet not allowed to be involved with me in any way. The upset, rather than being inside my soul, is set three feet away from me. There is now divine purpose within the upset. And I can feel its divine presence. Divinity is in my periphery, and in me.

In the account I am about share, I have changed the names* to protect anonymity:
I recently had a phone conversation with a woman named Linda* whose husband was killed in war combat. His name was John.* She was pregnant with their son at the time of her husband’s death. When her son was born, she named him John* after his father. John grew up and enlisted in the military. He was sent to Afghanistan. His mother experienced feelings of deep fear and devastation. Then John returned to the U.S., and she rejoiced. Having the condition Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following his arrival home, John committed suicide. Months after her son’s funeral, Linda was diagnosed with cancer.

How could I possibly respond to such a horrific story with someone I had just met? I could only find the words, “I am so very sorry. May I pray for you tonight?” I think of Linda when I’m late for an appointment and can’t find my cell phone, during a flat tire, when I wish I had a more fulfilling job, when I need someone to talk to but I don’t know which loved one to call, etc., etc. Gratitude replaces the previous feelings.

There are many ways of developing empowering contexts surrounding life’s troubles. Each one is here to help. When it no longer feels empowering, we may create a new one. That’s the beauty of being alive. We may create anew. Always. All ways.

P.S. This song, which I had never heard before, started playing on my iPad following this blog post. I Googled the lyrics. It matches the content of today’s post. I found that I must include it.
U2 — ‘The Troubles’