All over the world, people make objects holding and sending their prayers. These are often called bahos (Hopi), prayer flags (Tibet, North American Indians), or prayer sticks (everywhere! I often refer to these Prayer Trees as “Praying Trees” for this connotes the important understanding that Spirits continue to work with these prayers, placed on the Tree, long, long after the ceremony of planting and attaching prayers is done. I ask my friend, Cheryl if she would find us the dead tree or branch to use for our Prayer Tree. She emailed last Saturday morning to tell me she had a family outing with her husband, Mark, and her grandson, Ian, to scout for SSP's Prayer Tree.  When I opened her email here is what I found:

A smallish dead tree on the ground
Many branches…many branchings.



A child lifting the branch in his right hand



His Grandfather lifts up the tree entire so all can see
The strong branching network just waiting Prayers to receive.
In front of the Grandfather railroad tracks appear
Trestles running beneath his feet and off into a distance
finally disappearing through the Big Trees beyond..

 
I ask each of you to pray for the work being done at this conference, for each of the participants. To pray especially for the work to be done beyond this conference, now and into the future.
 
The railroad tracks themselves
are speaking to us of the journey already begun,
the Child, the Grandfather, even the Grandmother taking the photos
and the branch that is the Prayer Tree Becoming,
they remind us times of pausing, of reassessing
times in other places when we are off track – to stop –
Remind ourselves of what we are doing and the Call we are answering
Lift up a Praying Tree and renew both Tree and ourselves..
See how the tracks speak of the Journey…
Shall we be on track with what we are doing?
Surely, surely let us hope so…
And just as our Prayer Tree we are making and tending,
So too may we each be a Walking Prayer Tree.

Blessings,
Carol Proudfoot Edgar