A Dragon's Prayer

Story by Doran Eirok on SoFurry

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I don't show it much, but I consider myself a very spiritual person. That spirituality takes an awkward form, and when asked my religious affiliation I tend to respond with 'eclectic.' I go through my life with an open mind, finding meaning and inspiration wherever it happens to come from, and I have a great deal of respect for any and all faiths. In my own belief, it simply makes no sense to me that there should only be one correct path to the creative and loving divinity at the heart of all things, with all other ones being somehow wrong or misguided. God wears many faces, and our relationship with him/her/it/them is a very personal and changeable thing, to me. As such, I feel that all faiths have wonderful teachings, stories, traditions and perspectives that we can learn a great deal from.

I must stress that this is only my own personal perspective. Faith is a very polarising thing to discuss, so for those readers who feel differently, please believe me when I say that I intend no disrespect to anyone. This is just a little piece of me, like any other creative work I post.

In any case, while this spiritual eclecticism has its advantages, it has the downside of leaving one without a solid structure or framework to build on. There's something very powerful and deep about ritual and tradition that I tend to miss out on with my approach. Lately my emotional state has been rather up and down, and it struck me that I was perhaps feeling that absence, wanting for something defined that my faith could be anchored to, however tentatively. So I decided to try writing a prayer.

I will not pretend that it's anything amazing or suggest that the words will speak to anyone else the way they do to me, but I like to think it holds together reasonably well in a thematic sense. And most of all, I think it serves its purpose for me.


A Dragon's Prayer

by Doran Eirok

Great Mother, hear your child

I call to you from near and far

In all ages of my life and all parts of my being

Watch over your humble child in whatever skies life finds me.

I am curled in the egg, and my world is safe yet small

I long for the freedom of new air even as I fear it

Grant me please your shining curiosity

So that my heart may inspire me to climb ever higher.

I am a hatchling, sheltered beneath your protective wings

But soon I must venture out and greet the world on my own

Impart to me your radiant courage as I go forth

So that my paws may take me into the unknown without faltering.

I am grown and capable, bold with the strength you have taught me

But I am far from home and distant skies lie beneath my wings

Remember your child and offer me your ageless wisdom

So that my wings remain steady and my course true.

I am grey and solid with age

Shining brightly still yet weary beneath the weight of my years

Teach me your unassailable serenity, Great Mother

So that my grace might act as a mirror to your own.