There's is a awful lot of praying that happens in the Pastoral Care Department and in the work of the chaplains. Our morning and afternoon report begin with a prayer. Most pastoral visits either begin or end with a prayer.
I like prayer, and see it as praying to that small wise essence in ourselves. Another Unitarian Universalist chaplain colleagues describes praying for another as connecting his wise essence in himself, to the wise essence in the other. He prays across to the other person, as opposed to up to an outside entity.
Many of the prayers offered during our routine reports are "He" focused, complete with "You" pronoun that is responsible for all. A common prayer might be: "We thank You, God, for the gifts that You provide for us. Help us to ever grow closer to You and to do Your will in our work today."
It's a cool prayer and I have do a bit of translating to find connection in it. God for me is not a being, it is an ever present life force. God, for me, is the fabric of the universe. And as beings in the universe, that life-force is in all of us, and it plays out in our lives all of the time.
I hear the voice of God within me and that voice guides me always. But it is not a person and "He" does not exercise "His" will. I connect to that life-affirming energy and depending on my connection, it meets me where I am.
It is mystical, it is ancient, it is intimately connected to everything. We function in its presence, and we create its presence by our attention.
I'm happy for this exploration and I'm content with the time that I have to explore this spiritual connection in my life. In our initial orientation, we were told that we were the ambassadors of God. And that being that ambassador, it wasn't a question of our relationship to God, we were to meet people in their relationship to God.
Interesting though, in order to meet people where they are, you have to know where you stand.
