October’s SOUL MATTERS theme is DEEP LISTENING

Prayer of Deep Listening

In this century and in any century,
Our deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May we listen to plants and animals in wonder and respect
May we listen to our hearts in love and forgiveness
May we listen to our deep spirit in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit,
who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
But we do ask for a better world.
We ask for deep listening.

By Jay McDaniel from Prayers for a Thousand Years

An American philosopher and theologian, Jay McDaniel has written and lectured on religion and ecology, religion and interreligious dialogue, and spirituality in an age of consumerism. He runs a blog called “Open Horizons” (www.openhorizons.org), whose aim is “to offer ideas that might help people create multi-cultural, interfaith communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, ecologically wise, and spiritually enjoyable”.