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"Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me … whoever believes has eternal life."
John 6:41-51
Prayer of the water bowl: The Tibetans have a beautiful ritual that you might try in your own home.
In the morning, the first thing after rising, take a bowl and, slowly, fill it with water. As you fill the bowl, reflect on the particulars of your life: the people with whom you share your time, your state of health, whatever problems you face, what skills and strengths you have, you disappointments and successes, your worries, your personal gifts… as the bowl fills with water, receive all of those things as gifts from God and accept them unconditionally as your portion.
Fill the bowl to the brim. Then, carefully, so as not to spill a drop, set the bowl it in a special place for the rest of the day, a place where you will see it often. Let the water in the bowl serve as a reminder of every thing that life has given you.
At the end of the day, just before you retire for the night, empty the bowl - slowly - and turn it upside down. Let the pouring out of the water be your prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of the day just ending. Emptying the bowl is an act of letting go, of waiting in hope until the morning light to receive once again all that life holds.
CONNECTIONS: The gift of faith enables us to see the world and everything and everyone in it as a gift from the God whose love for us knows neither beginning nor end. As symbolized in the prayer of the water bowl, such a perspective of humility and thanksgiving can have a transforming effect in our lives and in our relationships with others: we see life as a gift, not an entitlement; we focus our attention on our blessings rather than on our disappointments; we discover God in the love of others rather than in ourselves. Every day, God fills the simple "bowls" of our lives with the "water" of His life and love; may we, in turn, live our lives in joyful expectation of the day when the Father will draw us to Himself for all eternity.
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