by Elena Ryder

Created on: May 30, 2008

I carry a prayer. It goes with me everywhere and becomes all things, yet I hardly know it's there. People carry many things through life, from their keys and family pictures to more personal issues like pain and regret. Yet, this tiny prayer holds them all without needing a pocket or a shoulder to lean on, it requires nothing in return, and it embraces every other prayer you can imagine.

Its power rests with appreciation, and its acknowledgment dissolves any trace of doubt. No experience can distract from its gracious gift, and it transforms all fear and uncertainty into love and peace. Anything I may wish to transport shares its significance. Little moments become infinite sources of amazement, and big moments become endearing traces that can easily be accessed without their weight of worry.

Imagine the beauty of being able to hold all things without holding anything at all. It's like having a key that opens all doors and extends to all people. You can feast on it without gaining an ounce of weight, and it's the most nourishing thing you'll ever accept. It runs parallel to paradox while it penetrates any definitive line of separation. Frustration becomes laughter and suffering becomes joy.

Whether you walk or run through life, gather things or let them go, carry a pocket full of change or lint, this prayer will abolish any discouragement and polish every moment. All it asks is that you receive it, and it does so without expectation. When all is said and done, it speaks with a silence that screams "yes, I am!" Freedom and beauty are its truth.

This prayer helped me through a diagnosis of MS, and it taught me that patience, perseverance, and acceptance are tools for healing. What could have been a burden to bear created an opportunity to learn and find strength of Spirit. This prayer comforted me when I saw loved ones be incarcerated and go through drug rehab, knowing that their method of discovery need not be so harsh, yet it carried a seed of real value. Even when things don't turn out as we wish, the arms of compassion and understanding work their magic.

It's a simple prayer. It goes by many names; courage, faith, love, wisdom. The source is always the same, regardless of its unfolding. Whether you find it in the form of a penny on the sidewalk that you put in your pocket, or you wear it as a scar on your chin, to carry this prayer in the heart will always bring a rainbow after the storm. If you don't know what it is by now, you truly should.

I carry a prayer of thanks.

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