My Daily Prayer, Part 4

      This is the final part of a series about what I pray for every morning.  It focuses on the state of our world and the potential of human evolution.  I pray for the removal of the veils of ignorance, greed, rankism, and isolation.

     Why do I pray for the removal of isolation?  

     If we were to remove the idea that each of us is somehow isolated from everyone else, we would come to see the that we are all connected.  We are a collective.  What we do to others we do to ourselves.  What goes around comes around.  

     And if we were to understand that, how would our species change?  Less rudeness.  More charity and kindness.  No wars.  No taking advantage of others, whether through deceptive advertising, unhealthy or unhelpful products, unfair wages, or treating others as "lesser than."

     We would learn to act for the welfare of our children, grandchildren, and generations beyond.  The kind of world we leave for them would be a paramount concern.

     Perhaps I'm an idealist.  But look around.  Our world is teetering on a knife edge.  We have to change, or we will cease to exist.  Will you join me in this prayer?

My Daily Prayer, Part 3

      My daily prayer focuses on the state of the human species, and the removal of the veils of ignorance, greed, rankism, and isolation.  Today, let's look at what I mean by "rankism."

     To me, rankism is the idea that I, or my tribe, or my country, or my ethnic group, is better than others that do not belong.  This view looks at life like it's a competition, a zero-sum game where there are only winners and losers.  It's the Darwinian view of life, where only the fittest survive.

    What would it look like if humans overcame this?  

     There would be no place for racism, for poverty and homelessness, for gross economic inequities, for arms races, or for war.  Schools would receive more funding than armies.  Political parties would learn to compromise and work toward the common good.  People would be curious about and rejoice in the ethnic traditions of others.  

     People would be judged on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

     I'm sure there are many, many more wonderful things that would happen in a world without rankism.  Will you join me in this prayer?

My Daily Prayer, Part 2

      As I was explaining last week, I have a daily prayer routine and I've been praying for the evolution and healing of the human species.  I have four areas that I focus on, the removal of the veils of ignorance, greed, rankism, and isolation.  Let's discuss the second area.

     Greed.  Whew, that's a big one.  What would the removal of that look like?  For starters, if we overcame greed, we would not see happiness as something that we can buy.  We would use some of our money to help others.  Food kitchens and homelessness could be eradicated.  People would not be so driven to drive themselves to work so much in order to buy the latest thing and would learn to enjoy the moment more. 

     Workers would be paid living wages because corporations would not pay the upper echelons so much.  Companies would focus on offering products that are safe and healthy, as opposed to being addictive or frivolous.   

     Oil companies would close because their leaders finally understand that the welfare of their grandchildren's planet is more important than the next quarter's company profits.

     People would treat our Mother Earth with reverence, as opposed to an expendable resource that we can strip and trash at will.

     I'm sure those are just a small sampling of what could be accomplished if we were to conquer greed.  That's definitely something to pray for.  Will you join me?

My Daily Prayer

      I have a morning routine in which I do my stretching exercises and then sit to meditate and pray.  Right now, I'm focusing on the status of our world and praying for the healing and evolution of our species before it's too late.

     I focus on four aspects of that healing.  I pray for the removal of ignorance, greed, rankism, and isolation.  Let me explain.

     The first is ignorance.  I believe that a lot of what humans do is based on the fact that they just don't know better, or are not informed of better ways to do and to be.  

     What would non-ignorant humans look like?  They would be much more apt to look at things with a critical eye, not believe everything they hear or read (especially on social media), learn to act from the heart and head rather than their base emotions, and understand that their power to change things in this world is up to each one of us as opposed to some outside "savior."  

     Can you imagine what our species could do if they realized just how much power they each have?  

     That's something to pray for.  Will you join me?