I consider this a beautiful and powerful position in which to hold your hands.
I think most commonly this open stance is understood as a receptive position – and so I like to hold my hands this way to honor the receipt of the myriad of blessings always being showered upon me.
But I posit this is also a powerful position of offering as well.
And I think it’s perfect that gestures for giving and receiving mirror each other. There is a completeness to that which reflects what balanced living is in my understanding.
I was thinking about this as today’s suggested practice in the 64-day observation of the Season of Peace and Nonviolence is prayer.
I want to be very clear here that I consider myself to be a spiritual person with a rich practice, but I am not in any sense a religious person. So no doubt prayer does not mean the same to me as it might to someone with a religious perspective.
But I also know prayer to be a powerful activation and I find it curious that spiritual people often dance around talking about it as though they can’t claim it. And so I really like the definition of prayer that Patricia McBee offers:
Prayer expresses our hope and intention to enter into an awe-filled relationship with the Divine.
And I believe we’re all expressions of the Divine – every tree, every rock, every animal, every drop of water, every person. And so to give an offering is to acknowledge this and to be in gratitude for the opportunity to be in relationship. I also believe that we connect to the Divine that isn’t embodied and that is worthy of our appreciation and gratitude as well.
And so my prayer for all of us today:
We are all beautiful beings of Light, and may we all awaken to the remembrance of our connection. May we honor and bless each other in joyous celebration. Om shanti shanti shanti.