{"id":141,"date":"2009-06-30T00:09:32","date_gmt":"2009-06-30T00:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/angelsonyourshoulder\/2009\/06\/prayer-and-meditation.html"},"modified":"2009-06-30T00:09:32","modified_gmt":"2009-06-30T00:09:32","slug":"prayer-and-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/angelsonyourshoulder\/2009\/06\/prayer-and-meditation.html","title":{"rendered":"Prayer and meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aloha everyone,<\/p>\n<p>Words really do have power. When I type the words <i>aloha everyone,<\/i> I really do send love to each and every one of you who read those words. I just thought I would take a moment to remind you what the word <em>aloha<\/em> means. It refers to love and the infinite power of your spirit. <\/p>\n<p>In many of my recent posts, I have talked about prayer and meditation and I have received several e-mails asking me to explain the difference, so I thought I would talk a little bit about them. We are always surrounded by angels, we live embraced by their love, and it is only through prayer and meditation that I become aware of their presence. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nWhen I first began my spiritual journey, I was told prayer was talking to god while meditation was listening. My favorite prayer is attributed to St. Francis:<\/p>\n<p>Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.<br \/>Where there is hatred, let me sow love;<br \/>where there is injury,pardon;<br \/>where there is doubt, faith;<br \/>where there is despair, hope;<br \/>where there is darkness, light;<br \/>and where there is sadness, joy.<\/p>\n<p>O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek<br \/>to be consoled as to console;<br \/>to be understood as to understand;<br \/>to be loved as to love.<br \/>For it is in giving that we receive;<br \/>it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;<br \/>and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen <\/p>\n<p>When I began meditating, I would sit quietly, focus my attention on my breathing, and think about the meaning of that prayer. As I slowly thought about the prayer, I would have a feeling of peace and serenity fill me. I would sit quietly, allowing myself to be filled with that feeling. I would breathe in peace and breathe out anything unlike peace.<\/p>\n<p>When I think about being held in the arms of an angel, I feel relaxed, safe, and profoundly loved.&nbsp; I can also use that as a starting point for a meditation. My favorite way to pray is by writing a letter to god or my favorite angel. <\/p>\n<p>Perhaps try writing a letter or sitting quietly while you read your favorite prayer, and allow the love, peace, and wisdom of the divine fill your being.<\/p>\n<p>With love and aloha,<br \/>Susan<\/p>\n<p>There are angels on your shoulder so allow yourself to talk to them and listen to their answers! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aloha everyone, Words really do have power. When I type the words aloha everyone, I really do send love to each and every one of you who read those words. I just thought I would take a moment to remind you what the word aloha means. It refers to love and the infinite power of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19,7,14,5,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-angels","category-communicating-with-angels","category-meditation","category-prayers","category-spiritual-guidance","category-tips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prayer and meditation - Angels on Your Shoulder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/angelsonyourshoulder\/2009\/06\/prayer-and-meditation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayer and meditation - Angels on Your Shoulder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aloha everyone, Words really do have power. When I type the words aloha everyone, I really do send love to each and every one of you who read those words. I just thought I would take a moment to remind you what the word aloha means. 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She has written eight books including the award-winning \"Mastering the Toltec Way\" and \"The Encyclopedia of Angels, Spirit Guides and Ascended Masters.\" Susan completed an apprenticeship with Don Miguel Ruiz, author of \"The Four Agreements,\" and she has been exploring spirituality, human potential, and the nature of physical and metaphysical reality since the early 1970s. Her greatest passion is showing others how they can be happy, no matter what is going on in their lives or in the world around them. This passion has resulted in her creating a podcast, \"Food for the Soul,\" and numerous video meditations. Susan's spiritual journeys have also taken her around the world with students she teaches. Currently, she lives on the beautiful island of Hawaii where she is an avid gardener, hiker, and writer. She often spends time playing with the numerous four-legged friends she's rescued or swimming with the turtles and wild dolphins. 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