Holding Space ~ Your Prayer Painting

On Thanksgiving Day I gathered the prayers that had been offered

for this collective prayer painting practice, and began the painting in the video.

As I read through the prayers, and whispered them aloud,

I was struck by a deeper understanding

of just how much of ourselves we bring to our prayers...

whether they be petitions, invocations, gratitudes, blessings.

They are such a testimony to the state of being

of our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our spirit,

such a beautiful, necessary thread in the tapestry of humanity sitting on the loom.

I am always humbled to share, honor and hold this kind of space.

It offers to me a reminder of how we are so much more alike

than we are different...

There is no better place to see this than in the way we whisper our heart's desire and truth.

It offers a glimpse of how very connected we are to one another, essentially guided,

as we travel this path of human experience.

It never fails to show me a new window into my own journey, as well.

It amplifies my compassion - for myself and all.

It saturates my practice with the only thing that truly matters...

Love.

Not the love that feels like a high or a buzz, to come and go,

but the love that is the substrate in which we thrive and become.

And that is why, when it comes right down to it,

the truth of this particular practice, for me,

is this beautiful irony:

I can no more pray for you than you could for me.

Even though, in a way, this is what I seem to be offering,

and even though we do this all the time.

There's is nothing wrong with the beauty of that intention.

But one's connection to the receiver of the prayer is divinely individual and profound,

and always with us - each of us.

It is kind of like this - 

I could offer you a hug from your mother or your child, in honor of their love.

But you will, ultimately, crave most their own sweet warm touch to your skin.

At times, to close your eyes and remember or imagine that touch in the belly of your soul

will be a greater solace than any sentiment could ever extend, however well intended.

So while I have no place between you and your beloved divine,

I can honor you, your prayers and intentions,

from my own connection to this power.

I can honor you while you yearn for that touch;

I can stand by while you receive it.

That higher power that is uniquely yours knows your heart like you do -

maybe even better than you do in times of fog and uncertainty.

I truly believe that.

I can turn my own prayers into compassionate empathy,

witnessing your truth deeply

by offering space

and seeing the you that is in me,

the me that is in you,

and knowing this as sacred truth.

This act of reaching out,

which any of us can offer at any time that we choose to be present for the experience of another -

this act

of placing my prayer beside yours and others,

serves another purpose.

To raise the energy of love

and the power of daily intention to meet with the sacred ~

if even just for a few seconds while we put words like kisses to the air between us,

simply because someone said,

"I'm here. I honor you. This is safe.

Let's release these prayers that exist within us,

that exist like our blood, breath and fire.

Let's declare this sacred calling of your {my} heart to our universe."

So, please know deeply, as always,

how grateful, humbled and honored I am

to join hands with you,

to hold space,

to trust and grow together

by showing up to ourselves, together,

and allowing what IS to permeate between us,

into the very source of our creation

unfolding before us

unfolding for us.

in light and love,

hali

 This month's Prayer Art Invitation to YOU, for your own practice, is a very special one, just what's needed this season... check it out HERE.