You, oh Lord, abide for ever and will not for ever be angry with us, for You have taken pity on us who are earth and ashes; and so it was pleasing in Your sight to give new form to my deformity.
You goaded me within to make me chafe impatiently until You should grow clear to my spiritual sight. At the unseen touch of Your medicine my swelling subsided,
while under the stinging eye-salve of curative pain the fretful darkened vision of my spirit began to improve day by day.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Prayer and Meditation is a form of conscious contact with God in which an attempt is made to communicate our needs to God, and reflect upon the will of God. The meaning of meditation is derived from the Latin word meditari (to concentrate). Meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (e.g. the will of God, a beautiful experience, a spiritual desire, or relief from specific mental or spiritual pain, etc.) and thinking on their meaning in the context of God's Love, and our perspective of that love. This type of meditation is intended to stimulate thought and receive a deeper understanding of God. It is for cultivating the personal relationship with God.

Step Frame of Thought Step 1 (admitted defeat) Surrender to reality Step 2 (came to believe) Faith in One greater than oneself Step 3 (made a decision) Trust in a Higher Power Step 4 (took personal inventory) Inventory, and our ownership Step 5 (admitted our wrongs) Conquering our fears Step 6 (ready to be released) Readiness for God's work in us Step 7 (became humble) Humility gains inner peace Step 8 (willing to make amends) Honesty in who we hurt Step 9 (made amends) Made right our wrongs Step 10 (continued inventory) Continued to do the right thing Step 11 (improve contact with God) Cultivate our spiritual growth Step 12 (carry the message) Give away what we received

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred,...Let me sow love.Where there is injury,...pardon. Where there is doubt,...faith. Where there is despair,...hope. Where there is darkness,...light. Where there is sadness,...joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled,....as to console, To be understood,...as to understand, To be loved,...as to love, For It is in giving,...that we receive, It is in pardoning,...that we are pardoned, It is in dying,...that we are born in to eternal life.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi