Even though I come from a Christian tradition where prayer was practiced, I never really understood how to pray. I often felt like I was beseeching a Santa Claus figure to bring me the material object or happy outcome I longed for.
I was surprised to have found that gratitude has taught me how to pray in a way that feels authentic.
Before my husband Chris and I went on the road in 2005, we had to find a home for our beloved dog, an Akita named Alia. She was eleven, with bad knees, and felt like our family’s heart center. Chris and I were about to undertake an adventure in our Volvo station wagon, which would be filled to the top with what we needed for a journey into the unknown. There was no room for an elderly dog, and since our journey was to let go of all we were attached to, we knew we had to let go of our beloved four-legged friend. After a year of looking for a good home for her, we had only one week before turning over our house to the buyers.
I thought I had scoured every possibility, but then I realized that we had not found a home for Alia because I didn’t want to give her up, even though I was leaving her. I needed to clear my ambivalence before I could provide her what she needed.
I decided to make prayer ties to open up the energy so she could find a good home. I placed a pinch of tobacco and corn meal with a prayer into four-by-four squares of red fabric. “Thank you that Alia has a good home, Thank you that she has people who love her. Thank you that she has four-legged friends and forests to run in.” I made dozens of prayers supporting her happy future that would not include me and allowed myself to feel them as if they had already happened. After hours of praying, I tied them on a long string and draped them in the trees around the house. In the morning, I got a call from a loving person who agreed to welcome her into his home.
The gratitude prayer does not guarantee the wished for outcome, but it is effective is removing unconscious obstacles that block the heart’s desire. Once we are no longer fighting against ourselves , the energy can flow freely and life can unfold in new and surprising ways.