Let’s Pray for Russia, Too

I have loved the pro-Ukraine sentiment in my part of the world. I have seen Ukraine flags hang in front of homes. I listen to the news that shares in large part the strength of the Ukrainian people. I attended church a few weeks ago and the program had a Ukrainian folk singer singing his heart out for his people. As I walked into the sanctuary I was handed a Ukrainian flag to pin on my lapel. We prayed for the Ukranians.

I continue to ask myself what about praying for the Russians and the Russian leaders?

In my professional practice I work with individuals identifying in large parts the underlying patterns that are driving them. The bully/victim dynamic is a classic driver. The war we are watching before us is about a bully (Putin) invading Ukraine (victim). When we look closer we see there are several victim groups. From what we have heard the Russian people don’t really know what is going on thereby watching their sons go to war and possibly not returning. They too can be considered victims. Those of us on the sidelines who continue to hear and fear the threat of nuclear annihilation can also be considered victims.

The spiritual life goes beneath and beyond pattern dynamics to an Eternal Truth that is singular (without pattern) in nature. Then, we live out that Unified Nature bringing Spirit into an otherwise conflictual situation. And, this is an inside job. Metaphysicians and mystics know that what happens on the inside is reflected in the outer world. The invitation for us is to invest time everyday to go inside of ourselves beneath emotional urges to observe and reconcile patterns, connect with The Eternal Presence, walk into the world bringing with us Divine Love. This Love will transform, uplift, heal, and reveal without us having to do anything more than show up.

Meditation is essential to reconcile the war within. A minimum of twenty minutes each morning and evening inviting in the Eternal Love of Life then sitting in silence changes everything. If you aren’t a regular meditator, commit to this practice for thirty days and watch how you change. As we observe within us an imbalance of division, we give equal weight to both parts of ourselves — the bully within us and the victim within us. We pray for our own inner reconciliation. We pray that our own inner Russia and Ukraine find a Peace that passes understanding. Then throughout the day stop to ask yourself, “who would I be if I allowed myself to be at Peace?” And, should fear arise about the war, practice seeing Putin and Zelenskyy shaking hands then hugging.

Remember Jesus says anyone can love those who love them. Yet we are called to love our enemies. Stop and think about this for a moment. You are asked to love Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. You are asked to love the pandemic. You are asked to love whatever “is” as God is the “I Am” or isness.

Affirmative Prayer for It All

I begin in recognizing that God is All There is. All Holy Manuscripts claim in someway that all began from God. This is where I begin in my prayer today. God, and Only God.

I sit for a few minutes in silence taking in this Holy refrain. “God and Only God.”

If God is all there is, then I must be a manifest form of this Only. I am in form a representation of God. God, then lives within me. I am a resident form of God and God resides within me. I let this sink in.

I accept this as True and allow this Presence to show Itself to me as the Quality of Love. Undivided, forever-after Love. Love that changes everything Love. I invite this Divine Energy of Love to surround my own ideas and dynamic of victim and bully, powerful and helpless, and all dynamics that have within it a persecutor and one being persecuted. I accept the healing power of God at work transforming these false notions while revealing to me the Truth that All is One. All is United. All is Good. As I know this is true for me, then I know this is true in a macro sense. I claim the Peace of God within Russia and The Ukraine. I claim the Restorative Power of God within and between these two countries. I claim the evidence of God at work as Peace, as Love, as Wholeness.

I release this prayer into the Action of God’s Love. Knowing it is done. I celebrate this now.

I give thanks for the Goodness and Glory of God here and now.

And So it Is, Amen.

May each of us know Peace,

 

P.S. I sold my Phoenix home during the pandemic and roamed for close to two years. I just purchased a home in Spokane, Washington. I am slowly returning to my work as a Spiritual Guide and blogger after taking the pandemic off to deepen and lean into The Divine Presence more fully. It has been my intention and practice to show up for myself regardless of what is in front of me and to meet the condition with and from Love.

I am starting to accept a few new clients. If you are to work with me, send me an email at revbonnieb@gmail.com.