Several months ago I shared a prayer that I had written for a group of Jesuit Volunteers, 38 deeply committed post-university students who had just completed a year of serving in settings of poverty and need. 

The responses to that prayer have been strong and meaningful for me. One that touched deeply mentioned that the request that God "be with any memory that tells me I am alone" allowed a new awareness of how the pain of the past was always accompanied by an experience of being alone. All alone. Bringing those painful memories, including the experience of feeling bereft of presence, began a sense of healing.

Hence our shared need to bring simple Presence to prayer.

One Tender Breath.

One Tender Touch.

One Tender Word.

Slow, calm, rhythmic breathing.

Quiet, gentle touch (hand holding hand).

One sacred word.

Dropping below thought and concept. Dropping deeper than our overly developed minds.

I continue to believe there is value in beginning a time of prayer or meditation with a simple statement designed to touch into the nooks and crannies of our lives, allowing Spirit access through our full permission to be Held in ways deeper than we can design.

Letting Mystery lead, letting Love heal, letting Spirit transform what Rilke calls "blood memory" in ways we can't begin to imagine.