Is Something Missing?

You know those days when you just feel like, “There is something missing?” That’s what it has been feeling like to me for a few days. What I am coming to realize is that there is nothing missing. I have everything I need, right here, right now. If I think I have something missing, then it is just an act of ego. It is on days like these when we need to count our blessings.

I was watching a particularly depressing show on PBS World today. It was about members of the military that had suffered debilitating brain injuries. Family members, including new wives – very young women – had taken on the role of full-time caregivers for men who were shells of their former selves. To top it off, the government has decided that while these men may sign on the dotted line to fight in a war to protect the freedom’s we enjoy in our country, they have decided that they can’t afford to pay for their long-term care should they need it long-term.

To me, this is unconscionable.

So what am I going to do about it? My original thought was, there is nothing I can do. But then I realized something, we are all one. There is no separateness in us. We are connected through God. While I may not be able to do something for these soldiers who put their lives on the line so that we may continue to live in relative peace, so that we may enjoy freedom. I can say a prayer. I might not be able to send some money to a caregiver in need, I may not be able to physically be there to help them, I may not be able to help them buy the van that they will need to get their loved one around, but I can say a prayer. I might not be able to hold their hand and help them stretch those atrophying muscles, I might not be able to help change their catheter, and I might not be able to help them speak, but I can say a prayer.

For many people, prayer is about what it does for the person you are praying about. I don’t find this to be true. I think it is more about what it does to you as a person. Think about it. If you didn’t stop to say a prayer for someone, what would happen to you? Nothing, right? Nothing would change in you. But if you do say a prayer, what happens to you? If you are praying effectively, it changes you. It will make you more in touch with your fellow human beings. It will make you more in tune with your soul self.

When you pray, it is not the person you are praying for who undergoes the biggest change. It is you. That doesn’t mean that you should pray strictly for selfish reasons (you should do that also), you should pray because you want to feel closer to God. You should pray because you want to feel closer to your fellow human, you should pray because you want to be in touch with your true self.

If you find a desire to offer your services or your donations to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, now you know where to go.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go pray.

Namaste