The Welcoming Prayer

This is not a photo of a gorgeous flower or a beautiful sky. It is a photo of my daily prayer practice. It’s not an easy practice, or prayer to pray, especially in these times. But it is a prayer that will change you.

And the change will be utterly beautiful!

This prayer got me through my deepest fears when diagnosed with stage 4 NH Lymphoma. Letting go like this changed me forever.
Like me, you will be both attracted to it and repulsed by it. Welcome that too. Together we can become as resilient as Etty Hillesum, Anne Frank, as brave as Martin Luther King, Dirk Willems, and all the people in the front lines of today’s pandemic.

Thousands of pray-ers practicing the “Welcoming Prayer” would change the world!

Just remember you’re not being asked to welcome evil, violence, rape or any ‘ism’ or deadly virus, just what is coming up in you and in your life because of everyday events. Welcome your responses, thoughts and emotions; welcome knowledge that many things are out of your control.

This is never a once and done prayer. It is prayed many times. When inner peace slips away, name what is present instead and be gentle with yourself for it being there. (this is welcoming) Move through your responses, not against them - pray the prayer- and you’ll find the fear, anger subsiding. If it rises up again, move through the whole process again.

If it becomes overwhelming, acknowledge that too, visualize whatever is helpful- putting the overwhelm beside you, or imagining God carrying it for a while or your ancestors or angels, even your dog holding it for you. (I kept spelling dog "g-o-d" instead of d-o-g :) Or put it in a bubble a let it float away.

Your honesty is all that matters. The Welcoming Prayer is not a call to perfection; it is an invitation for integrity and gentleness to yourself. Deepening and awakening is NEVER about demands or abuse to yourself or others.

Be gentle! Pray the prayer. Let the Sacred Spirit pray you. Isn't that an interesting concept....letting a prayer 'pray' you? Change you, inspire you, love you.  Put the practice away when you are too vulnerable to pray it and then practice again when redrawn to it.

🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

The Welcoming Prayer (by Father Thomas Keating)
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it's for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons,
situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem,
approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation,
condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and
God's action within. Amen.

Now, here's the beautiful sky and flowers photo! 

Sharon Clymer Landis
Children's author, Author, Spiritual Director, Retreat Leader and Host 

Nature Study/Walks especially for children: Bird/Monarch/Stream/Wildflower

        website - https://sharonclymerlandis.com/

        imprint- Hutch Books

        blog -  http://spiritsongsl.blogspot.com/
        Starry Meadow Farm  - https://www.facebook.com/StarryMeadows/

Flattening the Curve- A Vacation with a Side of Nightmare

Tiktok- therapy dog in training. Photo by Stephanie Landis

This pandemic feels like a vacation with a side of nightmare. 

It's also a roller coaster of emotions. Every other minute I’m either laughing or tearing up. Some of the best dark humor is coming out of friends and family these days!

Over the weekend I was with my elderly mother-in-law to help in her recovery from rehab. While there I didn’t watch the news or even open my laptop. My days went something like this: wash my hands until my skin is raw, cook dinner, scratch my nose (argh!), wash my hands until my skin is raw, set the table, taste-test food while cooking, oops, licked my finger, wash my hands until my skin is raw, pick a piece of meat out of my tooth (argh!), wash my hands until my skin is raw, take Dorothy a glass of water, watch Wheel of Fortune....say goodnight at 9pm, wipe down all counters, knobs, and handles while Mom and Dad are sleeping while thinking, when will I learn to STOP touching my face?

All that hypervigilance lingered after I got home. I felt anxious wondering if I'm sanitizing doorknobs, water faucets, phones, remotes, counters correctly - or my hands! - enough. Plus its allergy season so every cough or sneeze seemed suspicious. Oh no, am I getting sick? Did I carry a virus to mom and dad?  My therapy dog in training followed me around tilting his head and watching my every move as I wiped counters and washed my hands. He knows probably thinks I need therapy.

Today, I find myself laughing at some crazy coronavirus joke or tearing up in solidarity as friends share concerns about being on the frontlines as health care workers, or mourn life events being canceled, or react to a story of kindness or selflessness. As an introvert, I’m usually relieved at cancelations, happy to be stuck at home, but I still feel much disappointment as my upcoming author events are canceled. Tiktok’s TDI classes are canceled as well as his certification test in April. All certified therapy dogs are not allowed to work until further notice anyway. Yet there are mixed emotions – relief, disappointment, bewilderment. It’s unsettling. Our master naturalist classes will be meeting online now which brings new worries. Will our wifi be adequate? Can I figure out all this techie stuff if I can’t remember to stop touching my face?

While with the in-laws I thought I’d return home to lots of downtime and a chance to catch up on the many things that need to be done before the gardening season kicks in. I was anticipating being alone on my quiet farm in the hills of Virginia. Then I opened my social media accounts, scrolled through a stream of virtual events being scheduled so people would feel less isolated; so artisans and small business owners could keep their names in people’s minds, and not lose their livelihoods. Plus free opportunities for online participation in drumming and dancing, and viewing museums and zoos live streaming, watch authors reading to children and musicians giving virtual concerts. There were so many endearing pleas of the need for volunteers to check on neighbors, donate this and do that for the community. And offerings of help and goodwill too. Two days into our 'flattening the curve social distancing and staying home,' extroverts all over the country begged for phone calls or FaceTimes. Suddenly I'm feeling all the "shoulds.”  How can I be overwhelmed and struggling with FOMO (the fear of missing out) while staying at home? Crazy!  

Totally normal too, in these times. I lost my center, which is easy to do in a pandemic. Most of us will do the same from time to time, especially extroverts, and people who can’t stop touching their faces. So, we gather up all the scattered parts of ourselves, meditate, do yoga, pray, cry, scream if we need to, hold onto our beliefs and look to faith leaders for guidance, beat a drum, go for a walk, watch birds, wonder over flowers and trees fully clothed in spring. (and sneeze and cough when our allergies itch) We listen to our own inner wisdom. 

I will pick a few events and bless the rest while not participating, listen to my dogs' breathing, and go for walks with my husband or daughter who is now home and applying for unemployment. Maybe I’ll deep clean the house; maybe I’ll organize some of those spaces that need attention. Maybe I’ll work on a writing project. Who knows? One day at a time. 



It’s spring now; the sun is shining, the sweet pink Glory of the Snow blossoms stand proud above the still bare, brown dirt. 

As Julian of Norwich (an anchoress who lived a life of solitude and contemplation) said, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”  



I know that saying does not make me immune to the virus. My friends and family may fall ill, there might even be deaths in my circle. Businesses have been shut down in PA - my home state - and family members have their jobs halted, their house showings canceled. Every day I pray for health care workers. Despite the worries, the inconveniences, the roller coaster, I know in my deepest center, that place where I go to 'shelter in place' as I meditate and where I live from on my best days, will always be there even when I forget to be aware. All I have to do to be centered and grounded is turn inward, reconnect to the place where I meet the Sacred Spirit, and all is calm, all is well. 

Sunrise photo by Kim Landis

Sharon Clymer Landis
Children's author, Author, Spiritual Director, Retreat Leader and Host 

Nature Study/Walks especially for children: Bird/Monarch/Stream/Wildflower

        website - https://sharonclymerlandis.com/

        imprint- Hutch Books

        blog -  http://spiritsongsl.blogspot.com/
        Starry Meadow Farm  - https://www.facebook.com/StarryMeadows/