"Come to me, O Christ."

[PastorBob]

"O Christ—Thou rarest flower of hearts—Thou didst sail on the storm-tossed lake of prejudiced minds. Its evil-scented, gloomy thought-waves lashed Thy lily-tender soul. They crucified Thee with their evil. Yet Thou didst shed the aroma of goodness and forgiveness, and didst help them to be purified by remorse, so helping them to become attractively sweet-scented with Thine all-loving Flower-Soul.

O Thou Great Lover of error-torn brothers—an unseen monument of the mightiest miracle of love was established in each heart when the magic wand of Thy voice uttered: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Thou hast healed the cataract of hatred, and now we have grown to see: "Love thine enemies as thyself, for they are thy brothers—though sick and sleeping."

Thou hast taught us not to increase their delirious kicks of hatred by battering them with the bludgeons of revenge. Thine undying sympathy hath inspired us to heal and wake our brothers, suffering from the delirium of anger, by the soothing salve of our forgiveness.

Thy crucifixion reminds us of the daily crucifixion of our fortitude by trials, of our wisdom by ignorance, of our self-control by the scathing hands of temptation, and of our love by misunderstanding.

Thy test on the cross proved the victory of Thy wisdom over ignorance, of Thy soul over flesh, of Thy happiness over pain, and of Thy love over hatred. So are we heartened to bear our crosses bravely and pleasantly. Teach us to pour out sweetness when crucified by harshness, to bear with calmness the assault of worries, and to give understanding unceasingly to those who unjustly hate us.

O Shepherd of Souls, wandering hearts are of themselves seeking the one fold of divine devotion. We have heard the ever-calling music of Thine infinite kindness. Our one desire is to be at home with Thee, to receive the Cosmic Father with joyous, open eyes of wisdom, and to know that we are all sons of our own One God.

Teach us to conquer the Satan of dividing selfishness, which prevents the gathering of all brother-souls into the one fold of Spirit.

Calling to one another by the watchword: "Love him who loves you, and love all who love you not," let us rally beneath the canopy of the universal sense of Christ-Oneness. Amen."

Whispers from Eternity

A Book of Answered Prayers

1949 Edition

by Paramhansa Yogananda

[the Ogre]

. . . Thy test on the cross proved the victory of Thy wisdom over ignorance, of Thy soul over flesh, of Thy happiness over pain, and of Thy love over hatred. So are we heartened to bear our crosses bravely and pleasantly. Teach us to pour out sweetness when crucified by harshness, to bear with calmness the assault of worries, and to give understanding unceasingly to those who unjustly hate us.

O Shepherd of Souls, wandering hearts are of themselves seeking the one fold of divine devotion. We have heard the ever-calling music of Thine infinite kindness. Our one desire is to be at home with Thee, to receive the Cosmic Father with joyous, open eyes of wisdom, and to know that we are all sons of our own One God . . .

Paramhansa Yogananda

I particularly like the section above. It is quite beautiful. It is obvious the yogi was a skilled religious poet. I also have quite a selection of prayer books (mostly Jewish). I read them often. They are often quite good at expressing the love the person praying has for G-d. Sometimes, people are not capable of beautiful oratory like this, so the need for a prayer book can be handy. The problem for Latter-day Saints is that we have very few pre-written prayers. We do not have any for daily use. None at all. We do not have prayer-books. We are guided to pray spontaneously from the heart. The weakness, sometimes, for prayers like this is their utility as opposed to art. Too often, LDS prayers do not seek a bonding with G-d through prayer. A mystical-connection per se. Are you making a recommendation?

[PastorBob]

I particularly like the section above. It is quite beautiful. It is obvious the yogi was a skilled religious poet. I also have quite a selection of prayer books (mostly Jewish). I read them often. They are often quite good at expressing the love the person praying has for G-d. Sometimes, people are not capable of beautiful oratory like this, so the need for a prayer book can be handy. The problem for Latter-day Saints is that we have very few pre-written prayers. We do not have any for daily use. None at all. We do not have prayer-books. We are guided to pray spontaneously from the heart. The weakness, sometimes, for prayers like this is their utility as opposed to art. Too often, LDS prayers do not seek a bonding with G-d through prayer. A mystical-connection per se. Are you making a recommendation?

I just thought it was a beautiful prayer and I felt inspired from it.

[the Ogre]

I just thought it was a beautiful prayer and I felt inspired from it.

It is a beautiful prayer. Thank you.