O Lord! In this Most Great Dispensation Thou dost accept the intercession of children in behalf of their parents. This is one of the special infinite bestowals of this Dispensation. Therefore, O Thou kind Lord, accept the request of this Thy servant at the threshold of Thy singleness and submerge his father in the ocean of Thy grace, because this son hath arisen to render Thee service and is exerting effort at all times in the pathway of Thy love. Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Forgiver and the Kind! (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Prayers (US Edition), p. 65)
In the days when I was so angry with my parents for the abuse they perpetrated on me as an adult, and their choice not to talk to me about it; in the days when I couldn’t forgive, I found this prayer that I could use, remembering that the Bab had promised that:
Thousand upon thousand of what thou hast asked for thy parents shall be thy recompense! (Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 217).
Although I wasn’t yet ready to forgive, I knew that I could ask God to forgive them for me, and that it would benefit me as well as them. That’s what was in my heart, when I was saying this prayer.
I like using this prayer because it reminds me:
- God accepts our intercession in behalf of our parents
- Asking for God’s forgiveness for my parents is one of His special infinite bestowals
- The service and efforts I make will submerge them in the Ocean of His grace
- God is the Giver, the Forgiver and the Kind (for both me and my parents)
Knowing that when I use this prayer, God will also forgive me, and submerge me in the Ocean of His grace, I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness
Your short insights are very good Susan. Honest and thought-provoking. Thank you.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Anthony! It really helps me keep going!
Letting go of anger and bitterness can be very liberating wether for our parents or somebody else. For me, it is extra special to remember Bab’s statement on praying for parents and its blessings coming back in many folds for the children. Thank you for reminding this for us.
You’re welcome Ayshe. I’m glad it helped.
I love to say this prayer for my parents, I picture them to my right along with a brother and sister who have also passed. Then I start thinking of all the aunts and uncles, relatives, friends and recent tragedies. Sometimes it evolves into asking for anyone in the world who has just died. See what a bounty my parents instilled in me
as devoted Catholics?
I do this very thing too Bertha! I’m glad we share this in common!
I was grateful for this prayer when I found it. My father’s life had been cut short through a medical miscalculation. I still grieve. I also prayed for me mother, though she was still alive and our relationship was the most difficult. In the last days of her life she showed that she cared. That has made all the difference.
O Duane! I totally understand how important it is to find out our parents cared after a lifetime of believing we were unloved. I’m so happy you had this experience, and no doubt it was a gift from your prayers!
Since prayer and meditation go together, and one of the last topics was on meditation, just thought of sharing this passage:
Story of Shoghi Effendi:
One day the Guardian said to a prominent pilgrim in Haifa, “Do you pray?” “Of course, beloved Guardian, I pray every morning.” “Do you meditate?” The man paused a bit and said slowly, “No, I guess I do not.” The Guardian replied that prayer is of no use without meditation and that meditation must be centered on the Writings. He continued very earnestly that meditation is of no use unless it is followed by action. He thus made clear another step to this most important process in the life of the soul.
The Guardian then explained further that meditation is not just sitting down, closing your eyes, keeping silent in a silent atmosphere, and being blank. That is not meditation. We must concentrate on the teachings, concentrate on their implications and how they can be used. Prayer is of no consequence if it remains the murmur of syllables and sounds—of what use is that? God knows already. We are not saying the prayers for God, we are saying them for our own selves. If the words do not strengthen us, if we do not reflect upon the Writings we read, if we do not make the Writings part of our daily action, we are wasting our time.
Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf, makes clear that the “inspiration received through meditation is of a nature that one cannot measure or determine. God can inspire into our minds things that we had no previous knowledge of, if He desires to do so.” [1] In another letter written on his behalf, the Guardian emphasizes that “prayer and meditation are very important factors in deepening the spiritual life of the individual, but with them must go also action and example, as these are the tangible results of the former. Both are essential.” [2]
(Ruth Moffett, Du’á: On Wings of Prayer, p. 29)
[1] Letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual, 25 January 1943, cited in Spiritual Foundations, p. 17
[2] ibid., 15 May 1944, p. 17
What a wonderful addition, Vafa! Thank you! I’ve added it to a full-length article I’ve written on meditation, which will be coming out in a month or so.
II like the explanation of the Guardian on prayer and meditation,
It is true that some parents do not treat properly their children, This is of course terrible, But i tell myself maybe they were also ill treated when they were children! Is it a possibility or it is that they are ignorant? Then we have to pray for them and love them, It is hard but it is the only solution.Bon courage!
Absolutely right, Maboube! Just as our parents failed to treat us properly, so too do we do the same to our kids. It’s built into the way we were designed perfectly, with a lower nature, every one of us as sinners, so that we can all make each generation better than the last and move society towards the most great peace. I have a lot more resources for healing and recovery at my disposal than my parents did, whose lives were shaped by living through and fighting in World War 2, and living through the depression. I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible that experience was or how it shaped who they were, and it helps me be more compassionate. They did the best they could, with the tools at their disposal.