Stumbling Upon A Prayer

In a tangible example of "life must go on," I tried to drag myself out of bed and remind myself that I had chores to do. Yep, this morning was just another of those usual lazy, boring days. I just couldn't get out of bed and quite automatically, I pointed the remote on the TV to watch my morning favorite, The Ellen DeGeneres show.

But something pulled my eyes to the bookshelf beside the tv. Made of dark-colored wood and missing one leg, the bookshelf had housed my mom's old literature titles, three sets of encyclopedia, and now, it's a hodgepodge collection of contemporary literature, inspirational titles and business books. I found myself scanning every title, and my eyes surprisingly stopped to study one book, as if I haven't seen it before. It had become one of those "shelf-help" books, gathering dust, dirt and mites over quite a couple of years now since I bought it. "Powerful Prayers" by Larry King...the white letters against the black spine were glaring at me. I hesitatingly picked it up (thinking a day without TV wouldn't hurt anyhow) leafed through its already browning pages, and very surprisingly I just couldnt put it down.

In the book, the famed talk-show host Larry King, decides to embark on an odyssey with Rabbi Irwin Katsof. An agnostic himself, Larry King gets a myriad of answers by interviewing celebrities, world leaders and religious people.

It's amazing how different people feel about prayer. Some say it's a conversation with God, or with your inner self. For some, it's a duty, for some it could be a waste of time, and for some it's repetitive words work, for some merely listening provides answers. Interestingly, in one way or another, everybody prays. And inspite of all the differences, through prayer, we acknowledge our powerlessness, our vulnerability.

It's really comforting to know, that as we bow down our heads in prayer, we are joined by Margaret Thatcher, The Dalai Lama, Muhammad Ali, Rene Russo, Goldie Hawn. Big names, but just a few of the billions of hushed voices, thoughts resonating. Yes indeed, however different our language is or our prayers are..we are one.. as we humble ourselves before a higher spirit.

We are living in a world profoundly shaped by the mass media, and new technologies. We become what society dictates us to be. Prayer tells us : who we are inside, all we need to do is listen.

Oh yes indeed, "life will go on". We may trip or stumble along the way. A prayer in our pocket would make a difference.

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