Today, I would like to pay tribute to a Squidoo lensmaster who is on the verge of completing quite a challenge. Over on the Crabbysbeach blogging community, Kate Loving Shenk, known as mukunda22 on Squidoo, pledged to write a daily prayer for healing for 365 days straight.Many of us who write on Squidoo write blogs which point to our Squidoo articles. With Kate, the blog takes center stage, and she has created a Squidoo page to give you a sampling of the prayers from her year of blogging. She writes,
"As I reach the end of my blogging challenge, I feel different somehow, more alive, loving and forgiving."
The definition of prayer that resonates most with me is "paying attention to the one who loves you best." Whatever your view of a higher power, this definition applies even if the one who loves you best is a human being or a dog! Paying attention is key, and Kate has done this with her dedication to the 365 day challenge. We can all learn something from that.
All this week, Kate has been reflecting on how these daily prayers have changed her, actually rewired her brain, yet I would say by the responses from her readers, that they have been changed too. I know that I have been strongly affected by what Kate has written and by the comments she receives. Here are two of the many messages from Kate that I took to heart.
The choice to find happiness or judgment is mine every moment of every day. The two are not the same, yielding two different states of mind, diametrically opposed.
Which will you choose, today?
Goals based on fear conflict with the love and peace of God/ess.
1) I (or you) deserve to suffer.
2) I want to be right.
3) I never want to age and die.
4) I want to always please you.
5) I want my pain to be your fault.
Releasing the insanity of these fear based goals is like opening the prison gates.
I invite you to visit Kate's page, 365 Prayer Blog Challenge, to read what she has to say and see what she has accomplished. Maybe it will inspire you to do something similar. Kate plans to continue her prayers, at least five days a week.
Dear Kim, Thank you for this tribute. I think people want to know how the traffic is on this blog because of posting every single day.
ReplyDelete"Pray To Heal" is syndicated in at least 6 different high profile blogs/newsletters on the Internet. Word of mouth is helping, too.
The traffic ever increases and sometimes spikes because of the chosen topic.
My mother always says that a business takes three years to take off.
This Blog has gotten off to a rocking start. In reality, there are millions of blogs out there competing for attention. Also people's "time" seems to be shrinking, and prayer can stretch time out, but that sounds like another topic on the blog, doesn't it?
Thank you, Kim, for being a loyal Pray To Heal Blog reader. We all value your unique contributions, there!!
Love, Kate
ps--on the downside, the blog does take much of my time, even though I incorporate it into the rhythm of my life. So for that reason, I could not participate as fully on other projects everyone has going on at Crabbys, Extreme Writing Now and Tenfinity. So please accept this apology if I have offended due to the all encompassing work and play, as I embedded myself in the World Of Prayer! But I hope the results speak for themselves!!
Kate's success in her challenge shows great strength, but then that does not surprise me where Kate is concerned, nor does the fact that her wise words have resonated with others. Good to see a tribute to this inspiring writer here!
ReplyDeleteI write in appreciation of your acknowledgement of this spiritual journey that Kate has taken us on. Many have paid attention and been rewarded abundantly. Many Asian disciplines require 100 or more daily sequences for completion and Kate has applied this to her Western spirit and opened not only her heart more broadly but those of us who have been privileged to sojourn with her. Peace. Jo-an
ReplyDelete[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by kateloving and Mary McManus, Kim Manley Ort. Kim Manley Ort said: 365 Day Blogging Challenge Coming to an End | Squidoo Lens Reviews - http://bit.ly/bploM4 via @GrowWear [...]
ReplyDeleteKate has done a tremendous job with this blog this year - and what dedication! I cannot imagine doing anything for 365 days! And as we gather around that blog each morning, we have all changed, and grown, and stretched. A great experience for all of us. I am glad Kate will continue the blog, but I am also glad she has decided not to write on weekends. Everybody deserves a break! I am thankful for Kate's blog and I congratulate her on this huge success!
ReplyDeleteIt is true that we cannot separate lensmasters or bloggers from the result of their work: lense, blog posts.
ReplyDeleteSome time we pay too match attention to the work and we forget the big picture, the qualities of the great authors, the talent, dedication, determination as well, how useful the work is, how ingenious, how much care and love is reflected in entire work.
So Kate gives a good example to all of us.
Thank you Kate
Michey
I have been following Kate's Healing Prayers since she began the project, and they have been a total blessing! I had no doubt she would complete the challenge, because she ALWAYS does what she says she will do. Kate is an amazing person and I am proud to call her friend. Thank you for helping her celebrate this incredible feat!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Kate! More and bigger success in the years to come with your prayer blog. : )
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tribute to Kate! She is an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWhen we all started our 30 day blogging challenges, I could almost feel the air light up when Kate proclaimed she was going to tackle a 365 day challenge. She was stoked, excited, and focused. Kate was a laser beam; she still is.
ReplyDeleteShe has tapped into an energy that relatively few have. I say this not because she has remained true to the course, but because she has remained true to the source of her inspiration; an inspiration comes from her soul mixing it up with all that surrounds her. She is in tune, always has been in tune, and because of that, she is an essence that is filling with greater depths than most people I know.
It is not that we all, everyone last one of us, are shallow, it is merely that most of us have not found the foothold that allows us to cling to the rock of inner knowledge; not like Kate has.
The 365 Days of Blogging is an empty accomplishment when held up next to what Kate has really discovered and subsequently taught those of us who listened.
May we all find the depths and center that Kate has through her challenge.
Just stopping by to express my appreciation for all of your kind remarks and support.
ReplyDeleteHere's to another year of Prayer Blogging!!