Inspired by Ralph. Again.

As I read through a collection of Emerson's essays, I am abashed by the familiarity of his thought. I had considered myself the first to ever think certain things, and, while I suppose the fact that I came up with Emersonian thoughts independently is affirming, I can't help but feel less than original.

Take this passage, for instance:
"Prayer that craves a particular commodity, anything less than all good, is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy if a beholding and jubilant soul . . . but prayer to effect a private means is theft" (Self-Reliance).

In other words, don't pray for anything. If it's meant for you, you'll get it. And if it isn't in your best interests to have, who are you to argue? This is precisely how I have felt for years. I was raised to pray naggingly and specifically for particular goods in life, but I always felt so stupid praying, "Please God, help this food to nourish our bodies" and the like. Seriously, what a dumb thing to pray for. In fact, my private prayers began to boil down to a single word: "Please."Even this is a bit unnecessary, but while it is true that all good things are bound our way eventually, some expression of our frustration and anxiety must be made. I chose, therefore, to express myself in the simplest way possible to avoid annoying anyone who bothers to listen. Some nights I would just rock back and forth in the fetal position and chant, "please, please, please."

After a while, though, it struck me that I was being selfish and ungrateful, so I began adding "thank you" to my mantra. It turns out that what I learned as a kid is true: please and thank you are the most important words one can learn. Nowadays, my gratitude for life and blessing has outgrown simple expressions and evolved into worshipful love. So my prayers go like this: "Please. Thank you. I love you. And I'm sorry."

Which leads me to the real question of prayer: to whom should I address it? But that's another topic altogther.