Anam Cara

To Create Your Own Prayer That Speaks Your Soul

To pray is to develop and refine the light of your life. It smooths the coarseness in your vision. It brings you closer to the homeland of your heart. There are many wonderful ancient and classical prayers from the tradition. Yet there is something irrevocably unique and intimate about your own individual prayer. It would be lovely to create your own prayer. Give yourself time to make a prayer that will become the prayer of your soul. Listen to the voices of longing in your soul. Listen to your hungers. Give attention to the unexpected that lives around the rim of your life. Listen to your memory and to the inrush of your future, to the voices of those near you and those you have lost. Out of all of that attention to your soul, make a prayer that is big enough for your wild soul, yet tender enough for your shy and awkward vulnerability; that has enough healing to gain the ointment of divine forgiveness for your wounds; enough truth and vigour to challenge your blindness and complacency; enough graciousness and vision to mirror your immortal beauty. Write a prayer that is worthy of the destiny to which you have been called. This is not about any kind of self-absorbed narcissism. It is about honouring the call of your soul and the call of eternity in you. Take as much time as you need to find the shape of the prayer that is appropriate to your essence. It might take a month or a year. When you have it shaped, memorize it. When you have it learned by heart, you will always carry this gracious prayer around the world with you. Gradually, it will grow into a mantra companion. It will be the call of your essence, opening you up to new areas of birth; it will bring the wild and tender light of your heart to every object, place, and person that you will meet.