03/08/2022
Lynn Murphy Mark
Every Sunday at my Unity church there is a prayer chaplain available before and after the service. We are there to pray with anyone about anything that is on their hearts and minds. A person approaches us, sometimes hesitantly, as if what they are going to ask for is a heavy burden to carry. Some people come to us knowing exactly what we are to pray for and they come to us with a steady stride. Some are in tears before we start praying.
The point is that as a prayer chaplain I never know ahead of time what requests will come my way. So, there is no preparing. I can’t write a generic prayer and memorize it and hope that it meets people’s needs. I stand at the back of the church, waiting for a prayer request. Some people can hardly put into words what is troubling them. When that happens if call on that inner voice, sometimes known as intuition, the right words flow through me. I believe that intuition is in large part God’s way of communicating with me. All I have to do is open my heart channel and speak what I hear.
We meet monthly as a group of what I call the Prayer Ninjas. And every October we have 12 hours of formal training with chaplains from all the Unity churches in Saint Louis. The training in these sessions helps us to deepen our prayer practice in order to be as helpful as possible when approached with a prayer request. Once a month we place phone calls to congregants on our prayer list and pray for whatever is requested. Once a week we pray over the phone with the prayer chaplain that is assigned as our prayer partner for the month. We are also expected to have a formal prayer practice of our own.
At our monthly meetings we start out by naming what we ourselves need prayers for. Needless to say, last night we each wanted to pray for the Ukranian people. One of the chaplains described how she prays that a mantle of light, love, and peace will envelope the country and its people. As Unity people we believe that each and every person carries the light of Christ within. Even Vladimir Putin.
That gave me pause. I looked around our little group and saw people nodding their heads. We nodded, but we also struggled a little at first. A few people spoke about Putin and the state of his soul. I remembered that Joe Biden once met with Putin and after the meeting said, “I have looked in your eyes and I don’t think you have a soul.” To which Putin replied, “Then we understand each other.” I said that out loud. My fellow ninjas reminded me that everyone, everyone, has a soul.
I admit that I struggle with prayers for people who are committing acts of evil. And my colleagues remind me that such people need prayer more than anyone. I realize I can pray for their enlightenment. I can pray that something will touch them and open a floodgate of love and kindness. I am learning to let go of my own anger and judgement in exchange for a mindset of forgiveness and empathy. I have learned more about this essential practice in my four years as a prayer chaplain than ever before in my lifetime.
I am infinitely grateful for the energizing effects of prayer and reflection and meditation. I am grateful that I wandered into a Unity church 12 years ago and was moved to tears by the peaceful, inclusive nature of the Unity movement. I am truly blessed.
1 thought on “Prayer Chaplains”
I appreciate you referencing using your intuition while assisting others for it is that quiet voice that we can hear if we just listen. Intuition is our Spirit’s connection with the Universe/Higher Power/God who then responds with gentle nudges and sage wisdom for us to hear and then decide what path to take.
We all have Spiritual Partners in life; some are loving people and others are not. Yet we learn not from their actions, but from our own actions in response. Do we match their bad behaviors step for step or do we choose a path different from theirs? Most importantly, it is easy for each of us to make good decisions and/or act well when we are around “good people” yet the ultimate test is how we act when we are around, or being influenced by “difficult people.” Do we match their behaviors to combat them? Do we act worse due to our fear or disgust?
Having been around an awful lot of psychopaths and sociopaths, I will tell you that you must stand up to them, stand firm, and act ethically (which is often the “Road Less Traveled). Yet most importantly, you do not need to hate them in order to “do the right thing.” I am notorious for saying, “I understand (Putin) and why he does what he does; I don’t need to hate him to do my part, including walk him straight to jail.” We can stand up to those who wrong others without ginning up negative energy within ourselves for it takes a lot of positive energy to stand up against the powerful, the scary, and the wrongly persistent. And our positive energy goes down as we replace it with negative energy.
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