We Say Yes Prayer

I wrote this prayer and reflection for work. We are a group of many religious faiths, coming together to move our collective work of striving for a just and sustainable world.

“The real job is to lay the groundwork for a deep change of heart on the part of the whole nation so that one day it can really go through the metanoia we need for a peaceful world” – Thomas Merton

Peace begins with action, an action within ourselves. The action is simply to love- not the passive, easily forgotten in a busy day kind, but rather the attentive, trying, striving, challenging kind that forces us to change our words, our notions our beliefs our movements our days and our weeks.

What we came here with today let us lay it down. Let us be most free. Let us be most fully present, most fully holy and most fully loving.

Anthony de Mello stated that “peace is only found in yes”. Yes, and there is more than that. Peace is only found in yes comma and.

Our religious beliefs tell us to say yes, and. Christianity calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves; saying yes and, to others. Taoism instructs us to go with the flow, saying yes and to the movement of life. Buddhism tells us to heighten awareness, a yes and to being in the moment.

Yes and means I accept the challenge, I accept this created reality for what it is in this moment, even if I seek to change it. Yes and means I honor you and your beliefs as much as I honor mine. Yes and means being present in the moment. Yes and mean finding positive and constructive ways to say no. Yes and means moving the scene of life forward and adding to it. Yes and means our will unites with our action.

Yes and brings us in peace and love filled action.

As we rejoice in this gathering, we bring these ideas into our holy space and to our work in creating a more just and sustainable world.

Peace is only found in yes:

All : We say Yes

To the call to be today’s preachers and prophets, servants and leaders

We say Yes:

To the hardships that are our pathways to peace

We say Yes:

To the trials and challenges of our work

We say Yes:

To the victories, both great and small

We say Yes:

To our historic past

We say Yes:

To our creatable future

We say Yes:

To our brothers and sisters

We say Yes:

To each other

We say Yes:

To the Journey

We say Yes:

To the Dream

Lord, it is our yes that brings us here today and that unites us in the Spirit. As we enter into conversation, help each one of us to not only hear the way that we are being called to continually say yes but to the many ways you meet us with the answer of yes and…

Amen

by Kate Walsh

(Kate is a 2010 Catholics on Call alumna. She is a graduate from Fairfield University, majoring in Managment in Politics. She currently works for the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment. You can find this and other reflections on her blog: Say Yes! Change Things.)

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