{"id":9743,"date":"2017-08-23T20:35:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T20:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/?p=9743"},"modified":"2017-08-25T20:38:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T20:38:54","slug":"is-prayer-your-source-of-solace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/2017\/08\/is-prayer-your-source-of-solace\/","title":{"rendered":"Is prayer your source of solace?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Lately I have been thinking about prayers and the Higher Power. It\u2019s a recurring subject for me.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been fortunate enough to have someone sincerely tell you, \u201cI\u2019ll keep you in my prayers\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ll be praying for you.\u201d?<\/p>\n

Has anyone ever suggested you should pray about a problem?<\/p>\n

Or, have you noticed associates on FB asking for prayers for an ailing relative? Sometimes the request is prefaced with an affirmation like \u201cI believe in the power of prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do I?<\/p>\n

And to whom am I praying?<\/p>\n

Do I still believe as I did as a child at Our Lady of Mercy that there is a man even better than Santa Claus who listens to each child\u2019s petitions and acts wisely? Benevolent. Omnipotent.<\/p>\n

Do I think someone listens to my prayers?<\/p>\n

Not all prayers are petitions. Some are expressions of gratitude and thanks. When beauty in some form or a feeling of well-being leaves me gobsmacked, to whom am I saying thank-you?<\/p>\n

In Solace in So Many Words<\/em><\/strong> the poem \u201cCalculus\u201d<\/strong> by D. I. Gray<\/strong>, which I share below, appealed to me because it sees \u201ca symmetry implicit\u201d or divine order to the world (at least in my interpretation). The intricate mathematics of the universe is evident to me in so many ways (for instance, the repetition of patterns in nature) and such order convinces me that randomness and coincidence could not create anything so detailed and amazingly interrelated.<\/p>\n

And yet.<\/p>\n

The skeptic\/cynic in me considers the world as we know and although I see order, I do not know if this came into being by the act of a divine hand.<\/p>\n

I wonder whether prayer doesn\u2019t just fill a void for those who pray; that it fills the space usually occupied by the Unknown with hope. Prayer is a type of hope, I think.<\/p>\n

The pragmatist in me comes to realize that if prayer has a chance of working, it can\u2019t hurt to try. After all it is free and convenient; lines are open 24\/7.<\/p>\n

Those who know me know I like to go to the casinos, which says something about me, I know. It says something about an innate characteristic, and that is: I believe in luck.<\/p>\n

Gamblers believe in breaks and coincidences. Gamblers think you can tap into the energy of the roulette ball so it finds its way to the money. Even blackjack players who play according to the odds and always make the logical choice whether to hit or stay will tell you that the odds don\u2019t help when you don\u2019t get the cards.<\/p>\n

If I innately believe in luck, I must thereby innately believe in another Force at work. (Sorry, if I sound like Star Wars<\/em>).<\/p>\n

So in this moment, since it doesn\u2019t cost to pray and I don\u2019t have to know who the dealer is, I\u2019ll put in my ante and take the bet.<\/p>\n

How about you? Do you pray? How do you envision God or the Higher Power? I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts.<\/p>\n

Peace, love, and solace<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calculus<\/strong>
\nby D. I. Gray<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, maybe it\u2019s the smallness of your hands,
\nhow carefully they carve onto the page
\nthe pieces of expressions\u2014operands
\nand lean manipulations on the stage<\/p>\n

of mathematics, with its varying players
\nwhose entrances and exits leave a mark
\nindelibly: the alternating pairs
\nof conjugate relations, squares with stark<\/p>\n

configurations, differences or sides
\ninsisting on a balance in the mix.
\nBut it could also be something that hides
\nwithin those hands, within the pencil\u2019s flicks,<\/p>\n

that I have not yet seen, a symmetry
\nimplicit, quietly adjusting me.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 D. I. Gray<\/strong> Solace in So Many Words<\/strong><\/em>, 2011<\/p>\n

\"Flower<\/a>
Flower and fruit \u00a9 Ellen Wade Beals, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Canna<\/a>
Canna fruit \u00a9 Ellen Wade Beals, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Leaves<\/a>
Leaves \u00a9 Ellen Wade Beals, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately I have been thinking about prayers and the Higher Power. It\u2019s a recurring subject for me. Have you ever been fortunate enough to have someone sincerely tell you, \u201cI\u2019ll keep you in my prayers\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ll be praying for you.\u201d? Has anyone ever suggested you should pray about a problem? Or, have you noticed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3351,730,93,12,1619,280,23,3350,42,3349,1616,3353,39,13,1797,3352,7,16,3354,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-9743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-a-symmetry-implicit","8":"tag-calculus","9":"tag-d-i-gray","10":"tag-ellen-wade-beals","11":"tag-gambling","12":"tag-glimpse-of-solace","13":"tag-gratitude","14":"tag-higher-power","15":"tag-hope","16":"tag-ill-pray-for-you","17":"tag-luck","18":"tag-petition","19":"tag-photography","20":"tag-poetry","21":"tag-prayer","22":"tag-saif-patel","23":"tag-solace","24":"tag-solace-in-so-many-words","25":"tag-the-power-of-prayer","26":"tag-weighed-words","27":"entry","28":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9743"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9756,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743\/revisions\/9756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}