Since I have delved so deeply into yoga, meditation and prayer more regularly these days, we have all come to a more reverential feeling. A feeling of connectedness to that source, God, spirit. The girls and I do blessings at each meal and we recite short prayers at bedtime. Throughout the day we also do verses, poems, or prayers of gratitude. Here are some of our favorite verses, poems, blessings and prayers.

Meal Blessings

Earth, we thank you for this food,
for rest and home and all things good,
for wind and rain and sun above,
but most of all for those we love.

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Thank you for the food we eat.

Thank you for the world so sweet.

Thank you for the birds that sing.

Thank you God for everything. Amen

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Earth who gives to us this food,

Sun who makes it ripe and good

Dear Earth, Dear Sun

By you we live

Our loving thanks to you we give

Blessings on our meal, and peace on earth

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Morning Verses

The sun with loving light

Makes bright for me each day.

The soul with spirit power

Gives strength into my limbs.

In sunlight shining clear

I reverence, O God,

The strength of humankind

Which thou, so graciously,

Hast planted in my soul

That I, with all my might,

May love to work and learn

From thee comes light and strength

To thee rise love and thanks.

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How Beautiful the World Is

How beautiful the world is,

How blue the sky above,

How green the grass in the morning dew,

How musical the dove.

Eyes to see the colours bright,

Ears for music of delight,

Nose to smell the fragrant rose,

Skin to feel the breeze that blows.

How beautiful the world is,

How blue the sky above,

God is there in all creation

Flowing forth in light and love.

Paul King

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Blessings & Prayers

The earth is firm beneath my feet,
The sun shines bright above,
And here I stand – so straight and strong,
All things to know and love.

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Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat;
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.

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Mother earth, mother earth,
Take or seed and give it birth.
Father sun, gleam and glow
Until the roots begin to grow.
Sister rain, sister rain
Shed thy tears to swell the grain;
Brother wind, breathe and blow
Then the blade green will grow.
Earth and sun and wind and rain
Turn to gold the living grain.

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Prayers for Children 9 years (Autumn recites)

When I see the sun,

I think God’s spirit.

When I use my hand,

God’s soul lives in me.

When I take a step,

God’s will walks in me.

And when I see other people,

God’s soul lives in them.

And so it lives, too,

In beast and plant and stone.

Fear can never reach me

When I think God’s spirit,

When I live God’s soul,

When I walk in God’s will.

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Prayers for small Children

From head to foot,

Through heart and hand,

I am a child of God;

In sun and moon,

In star and stone,

I feel the strength of God;

In father and mother,

In all dear people God’s will is alive for me.

So, I will too,

As a child of God,

Through power of God,

In will of God,

Live and speak

And what I ought

Do faithfully to God.

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With my own eyes

I see the world,

The lovely world of God.

My heart must thank

That I may live

In this, God’s world,

That I may wake

In the brightness of the day,

And may rest in the night

In the blessing of God.

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To wonder at beauty,

To watch over truth,

To esteem what is noble,

To resolve on the good:

It leads human beings

To aims in their life,

To right in their action,

To peace in their thinking;

And teaches them to trust

In the working of God

In all that exists:

In cosmic worlds,

In depths of soul.

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The Lord’s Prayer

Father, you who were, are and will be in our innermost being. Your name in us is glorified and praised.

May your kingdom increase in our deeds and in our conduct.

May we perform your will, as you, O Father, have laid it down in our innermost being.

Spiritual nourishment, the bread of life, you give us super abundantly in all of the changing conditions of our lives.

Let our mercy for others balance the sins done to our being.

You do not allow the tempter to work in us beyond the capacity of our strength. For in your being, O Father, no temptation can exist, for the tempter is but appearance and deception, from which you will lead us by the light of your knowledge.

May your power and glory work through us in all cycles of time.

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Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendor of achievement,
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness
And tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation to the dawn.

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Love & Light,

 

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