Prayer for the un-prayerful

You don’t have to believe in a religion or in life after death to pray. But who would you be praying to? Does it matter? Perhaps to yourself, more likely for other people. Because a prayer is the best example I know of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Does it always work? Of course not, and certainly not in the way you hoped it would. Why, then, should you say, or think, the occasional prayer?

When you are able to help someone I am sure you do. Practical help is the best of all prayers. But there are many times when you cannot do anything practical to help others. You may pity them, you may admire them, you may see them as role models for yourself and others. But there are only two things you can actually do for them. One is to pray for them.  The other is to remember them. A memory is, in any case, a prayer.

But if you don’t believe there is someone to pray to and think that your prayers are wasted, why bother to pray? Actually, there is a very good reason to do so. Reflection and pondering on the fundamentals of life are never wasted. They are the basis of our moral makeup and the sum of our personality. Time spent in them is the best time we have because what we learn from it is the worldly equivalent of paradise.

We at Terrific Mentors International will say such a prayer for all our relations and friends, however close, however far. And we wish you Happiness for this Festive Season and Joy for the coming – possibly challenging – year. And our prayer will be that whatever your belief, whatever your lifestyle, whatever your dreams and hopes you shall see them all as the sun rises on 2022.

With our warmest affection,

Gina, Zoey Lim, ChengBee Lim, Kar Yong Ang, Ian Hong, Deepa Shahi, Eliza Quek, John Bittleston and all the other Terrific Mentors who work with us, wherever they may be.