At the end of each spiritual direction session, I ask the person to think back on our
conversation and see if they can find one word or phrase that seems to jump out at
them from all the things we discussed. I encourage people to just let a word surface,
don’t go hunting for it. Almost always a key word presents itself. And then I ask the
person to create something called a breath prayer. A breath prayer is a prayer that
can be said in one breath – 6 or 8 words. Often the prayer might start with the
words “May I …” and the person then goes on to create a sentence that encapsulates
something they want to remember, to focus on, to point towards in the coming
month. A breath prayer might be very specific; “I will write from my heart for 6
minutes each day.” But more commonly, people focus on a larger longing; “May I
find joy in this day”. “May I be kind today.” Then the practice is to write the prayer
down and place it somewhere where you will see it a few times during the day and
to “pray” the prayer each morning. In the evening, people commonly also look back
on the day to see how they did on the central issue of the prayer. Not so much with
the idea of rewarding or punishing yourself for attaining or not attaining the named
objective. But, more just to keep in front of you, what it is you really want in your
life.
Praying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
— Mary Oliver