I love the ocean. When your feet touch the water you are instantly connected to the rest of the world. The Pacific pours into the Atlantic which pours into the arctic and Indian. When my feet touch the waters of the Atlantic, someone else in Morocco touches that same body of water. Off the coast of Brazil people are swimming in that very same ocean. As the ocean gives me this connection, so does prayer.
I am not very open with my family and friends about prayer. Among my peers, prayer is not commonly spoken of. I love praying, but I don’t simply read the words and go on with my day. I read the words of Bahá’u’lláh like poetry, analyzing each word with a magnifying glass, wondering how it applies to my life. Here is one of my favorite prayers.
O my Lord, my Beloved…
O my Lord, my Beloved, my Desire! Befriend me in my loneliness and accompany me in my exile. Remove my sorrow. Cause me to be devoted to Thy beauty. Withdraw me from all else save Thee. Attract me through Thy fragrances of holiness. Cause me to be associated in Thy Kingdom with those who are severed from all else save Thee, who long to serve Thy sacred threshold and who stand to work in Thy Cause. Enable me to be one of Thy maidservants who have attained to Thy good pleasure. Thou art the Gracious, the Generous.
Coming to be Me 