Knitting Prayers, The Our Father, Meditation and Knitting

When I am by myself, I like to knit with the tv off and maybe a podcast going, but usually just the quiet is nice. Working with folks with various diagnoses and ways of being vocal but not verbal, quiet is sometimes really desired. The calmness
and repetition of the stitches, slows the breathing, heart rate, and thoughts. Knitting in the quiet allows a still place to form in my psyche. A place where I can go to meet with God. I get to share my thoughts about what has been happening lately. I listen to what He thinks about it. I don't know, nor do I need to know, how this works, it just does.

Sometimes, I knit and pray the Our Father. Only, when I pray the Our Father, I make it relevant to me and my daily bread."Our Father" Abba, Father, Dad, The strength and support found in resting a moment in my father's arms after a long, hard journey. "Who art in Heaven" Heaven, the land of God, the land of the Angels, the land of Jesus, vast, unknowable, infinite, all power, all grace, all love. "Hallowed" Honored, Loved, Grand, Awe inspiring, "Be Thy Name" The name of God, that one word the Jewish folks do not speak for to speak it is to profane it. The ancient Norse believed that to know the name of another gave you magical power over that other one. Knowing God's Name, being able to talk with God directly, by name. Simply amazing."Thy Kingdom Come" God's authority is all powerful, and He is coming here. God's power, influence, grace, and strength is coming here, to this place where I am. Wow!! "Thy Will Be Done" What is the will of God? Jesus said we were to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. So, then, is the will of God to love him completely, while also loving everyone else? Perhaps that is the meaning of life. The meaning of life implies that there is just one, but Jesus mentioned two purposes. So, a meaning of life is to love God and others. "On Earth" The vastness that is unknowable of God is interested in the menial things of life here on earth. Huh? That boggles my mind. I know that is true, but God and earth/dirt don't seem to coincide much in our culture.  "As It Is In Heaven" God wants to bring Heaven to Earth. The vast goodness that is total communion with God is what is desired to be here on Earth. What am I missing in this? Why does God want us to have Heaven on Earth? He loves us. God loves us...wow! "Give us this day our daily bread" Lord, you know what I'm going through here on earth. I am learning more each day the difference between a want and a need. I know you will fulfill my needs for today. Help me to accept all that comes my way daily. Help me to show your love daily. Thank you for meeting my needs today. Thank you for the sunshine that warms my skin, and the rains that water the plants and give drink to the animals. Thank you for the abundance of my life, and of my family and friends, may all here on earth find this same abundance in their daily walk. "And forgive us our trespasses" I'm sorry, Lord. I have done things that I am not proud of. Help me to remember to be silent before I respond to a situation. Help me not to spread gossip, or bad mouth those around me. Help me to express your revelation to the world. "As we forgive those who trespass against us" Lord, you know my past. You know I am working on forgiving so-and-so and so-and-so for doing such-and-such and this-and-that. I am not as angry about the situation as I was a while ago. I know that not forgiving others doesn't hurt them, just me. I want to be able to say I forgive, but ... my human weakness is getting in the way. I know you and others have forgiven me, but how to do that myself? Lord, help me to learn more about forgiveness and to be more able to forgive others. Lord, help me to say I forgive, I love that person. Not to forget what happened, lest it happen again. But, just I am soft hearted with this person and how our situation has shaped my growth. "And lead us not into temptation" Lord, you know my heart and the evil that is there at times. Help me to overcome that desire. Help me to love all. Through loving all, help me to suggest better paths to myself and others, as needed. "But, Deliver us from evil" Lord, guide my steps, send angels and others to help me when I am about to do evil, to give me distraction and ability to pause and think and do what is right and good in every situation. You know how strongly I can get caught up in a situation and lose track of what is really important. Help me to remember the most important things and people. "Amen" So be it, Make it so, It is finished, I've said all that I can say.

By the time I've prayed through the Our Father, my knitting project is much closer to completion. I am also much more stable with my breathing and heart rate. I can't measure it, but my corticosteroid levels are probably lower. Those are the hormones that come from stress and lead to bodily damage and stress induced weight gain. So, can prayer help with weight loss? :) We can hope and pray.

I'll share other ways I pray later. How do you pray?