As a person of faith, I believe in a God of love, peace, and justice, who engages with me in intimate communication I call prayer. I consider it a miracle that my faith can be both so personal and so mystically transcendent. I am grateful my Quaker tradition provides a historical and contemporary community that supports and confirms my mystical experience of the Divine.
Each of us engages in an intimate prayer life with a different way of opening our hearts, minds, and souls in a personal conversation with God. This is my practice:
Before I even begin my prayer, I observe a period of silence with my eyes gently shut. I try to control my breath and recite a simple mantra until my body settles. This time is like a waiting room where I remain until I am called.
My prayer has three basic segments: gratitude, prayer for those in harm’s way, and a personal request for support to assist me in being present and of service to my world.
The gratitude segment of my prayer begins with gratitude for the presence of my faith itself, which makes prayer possible. This is the most important part of my prayer – to give thanks for the many blessings of my life, beginning with food, shelter, warmth, the love of my wife and my family, for friends and community. I give thanks for my health, for my financial, social, and physical security, and my opportunities for service and ministry to others. I give thanks for the beauty of my surroundings, and for the joy of the natural world, which blesses my daily life.
My deep gratitude leads me to be often acutely aware of how exceptionally privileged I am, and I pray as specifically as possible for all those who endure suffering and hardship, often beyond my imagination. I think of those who lack food, shelter, and community support, those who are in pain or mentally ill, those who are dying, or grieving, or accompanying others who are facing death. Because of my prison work, I pray especially for those who are imprisoned and those who are responsible for prison management. And finally, I pray for the victims of war, those who fight the wars, and all those working to end war’s gruesome tragedy and seek alternatives to peace.
The third part of my prayer is my personal request that I be fully present and available as possible in service to the common good. I pray for my capacity for compassion, kindness, and courage. I pray for wisdom and vision; for clarity and conviction of mind and heart; for resilience, patience, and hope in the face of adversity. I also pray for the presence of joy and inner peace and that my life will offer a witness to peace. Finally, I pray for my personal integrity, for a sustained reverence toward life’s sacred bonds of interconnectedness and interdependency supported by the restorative power of truth and love.
Each of my prayers ends with a prayer for resiliency: “To expect grace and pray for mercy.” Even in the worst of times, this prayer reassures me that my shortcomings are to be expected and accepted, and I am never without hope and support.
Finally, I pray always for my family and those I love, for those with whom I will share this particular day, and for a measure of peace and justice for all.
Tom Ewell is a member of the Whidbey Island Friends Meeting with a particular interest in prison reform and restorative justice.