May you be filled with loving kindness

                            I didn't know what I believed.
                              I didn't know if I believed.

                                                       - Lindsey Crittenden in
                                                         A Sceptic Starts to Pray

Reading old issues of Reader's Digest is one of the things I do when I'm home (home is 50 kilometers from here).  The last time I was there, just 2 days ago, I enjoyed for a while the luxury of having nothing to do but soon got bored with it so I started cleaning my desk and shelves.  They were dusty and smelled musty. It took me all morning because aside from being dusty, the shelves were half-full of old issues of Reader's Digest and as I wiped each clean, I was also browsing it.

There was this feature that I found quite interesting and  it started with these two sentences:  I didn't know what I believed. I didn't know if I believed. Intrigued, I read it. It was about the author's own view of prayer and how it somehow filled her with warmth and comfort "that stay put, a presence that never leaves."  And on that same page was another feature entitled Prayers for Unbeliever by Nancy Haught,  It started with equally interesting opener:  What if you don't believe in God but still feel a pull towards prayer?  What if indeed! Here, the author shares a "metta" or loving-kindness prayer.  As suggested by H Bays, a priest in Zen Community in Oregon:  "Sit down, quieten your mind and begin with yourself, say:

     May I be free from fear.  May I be free from suffering.  May I be happy.  May I be filled with loving kindness.

Next, focus on someone you love.  Say the same prayer on that person's behalf.  Then pray the same way for a neutral person.  Finally pray for someone you don't like."

Well, then guys, this is all for now,  and may you be filled with loving kindness.