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When I Pray to God

When I pray to God

I pray not to one man

For God is not one man

God is men

God is women

God is children

God is everywhere

Above us and below us

Ahead of us and behind

In the air we breathe

The water we drink

The food we eat

The very earth we walk upon

I pray to all of this

I pray to you

When I pray to God

I pray for myself

I pray that for the short time

I am on this earth

I make a positive difference

To this dangerous, frustrating

But still beautiful world

I wake up in every day

Unfortunately life's not always fair

Recession and reality confound

My efforts and to my utmost despair

Of all those who came before

I pray that what the living learn

Is remembered and built upon

By all those yet to come

I pray to them

I pray to you

When I pray to God

I pray that my thoughts, words and actions

Do as little harm as possible

I pray that whatever fate befalls me

Destiny or doom

Is fair and just

I pray for those I love

Friends and family

Both near to me and distant

I pray for their good fortune

And for their peace of mind

For their fate affects me

As mine does them

I pray for forgiveness

And I pray to forgive

To nurture compassion

To negotiate the selfish anger

And impulses innate to all of us

I pray for the world

Everyone and everything in it

For we all affect and injure

Harm and revitalize ourselves

In ways so subtle

We do not even recognize them

I pray for the living

That we remember the lessons

And build upon the achievements