A Moment of Mindfulness and Grace
My partner Michael and I started the habit a while back of saying grace before our meals when we eat together. He is Pagan, and I am Episcopal/Sufi, so it is one time each day when our varied spiritualities can combine. We use the Sufi prayer before meals ("O Thou, the Sustainer of our bodies, hearts, and souls, bless all that we receive in thankfulness"), to which I say "Amen" and he says "Blessed Be."
Doing this together creates a small sacred space, a moment of mindfulness and grace that we can share together.
Darrell
www.WildFaith.com
Doing this together creates a small sacred space, a moment of mindfulness and grace that we can share together.
Darrell
www.WildFaith.com
posted by Darrell Grizzle | 2:15 PM
6 Comments:
Wow. Sounds nice.
I have a really odd blog, but feel free to come by and visit. I like hearing from new people.
I've got to add you to my links. I hope I remember. I can be a terribly forgetful little redhead at times.
Thanks! I just visited your blog, "Light" -- it has an interfaith vibe I like a lot. And I liked your critique of Carol P. Christ. I've added a link to your blog in my list of Links to Fellow Bloggers.
Darrell
This Sufi grace really resonates with me. Mind if I borrow it? I silently bless my food (just so I won't get THAT LOOK from my wife) and I'm just waiting for the big family Thanksgiving or Christmas get together when I'm asked to give grace.
"Mother, Father God," these three words will rock the house and make for many years worth of gossip. I figure it beats totally blowing their minds with my, "Oh Great Spirit" grace and risk being cut out of the will!
Sometimes I just want to play it safe with the traditional, "Our Father in heaven" grace- but, well- if they ask me to....
The Sufi grace was given through Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) back in the early 1900's -- anyone is welcome to borrow or use it. He does refer to God as "our Father and Mother" in the Sufi Prayer for Peace:
Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy Thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all, in the thought of Thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we, Thy children on earth, may all unite in one family. Amen.
Darrell, I like this blessing too. I am a bit amazed to see the "Mother" part of the Sufi prayer. I am not that familiar with Sufism, but having lived in a Muslim country, I think I assumed that "male"" would have been the limit of their imagination about God...
I enjoy your blog even when I don't post comments. ;-)
Julie
Julie, what makes it even more amazing is that Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote this prayer in the early 1900's. He was a teacher who was truly ahead of his time, one who brought Sufism out of the strictly-Islamic mode and emphasized its universal spirituality.
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