Is it wrong to pray for perfection in our lives? I keep asking myself this question and life keeps handing me the same answer: It’s okay to pray for perfection, but it’s more empowering to “trust” that there is some Higher Power orchestrating life; and whether we know it or not, life already IS perfect.

That sounds like a nice concept when the forecast regarding my health, relationships and career is sunny and warm; but when it feels as though a dark cloud is following me around, it becomes difficult to envision “perfection” in God’s plan. So sometimes I begin to question if this Bush-Gore election fiasco, or some world crisis, is taking all of God’s time and He doesn’t have any left to focus on little old me. Certainly Presidents and celebrities must come first in God’s hierarchy of attention. Or maybe the world has become so overpopulated that God's simply overburdened, and instead of striving for "perfection," He now just aims at "good enough."

Last week my sister-in-law’s cat disappeared for a few days. Now this is a big crisis in my wife, Melissa's, side of the family—these people love their cats. I keep hoping that my next life be will as a cat belonging to her side of the family. Anyway, Melissa asked me to pray for the cat to come home. To tell you the truth, I hated to use up a good prayer on a cat that was probably being pampered and fed by some sweet neighbor; but I prayed just the same—Melissa doesn’t ask me for much, and I know I used one of her prayers when I thought there was an oil leak in my car. So I got into a meditative state and did some serious praying.

The most amazing thing happened while I prayed to God to bring the cat home—I think I got reprimanded! The message that adamantly filled my mind was this: “Bob, do you think that I don’t know what I’m doing? Do you really think that this missing cat is just some random meaningless occurrence? Or is it possible that there is a lesson in this for your sister-in-law or nieces, perhaps in preparation for some greater loss?”

The message went on for a bit longer, but that was the gist of it. When I stopped praying, I kind of felt bad for my obvious lack of faith. I guess I need to believe that life is exactly as it is supposed to be. I need to trust that it's perfect even if I don't see the meaning behind it all.

Why Does Love Always Have To Turn Into A Power Struggle?

"This life's dim windows of the soul
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro', the eye."

   ~ William Blake

In our back woods there is an old cedar grove. For many years, I would sit within the grove and talk to the cedars and to pray. One day I asked the cedar trees what they would like from me. The answer was immediate and clear: “Please give us pictures of all the other trees that we hear from, but have never seen”.

I made a mental image of twin cedars a half mile or so away and the cedar grove joyfully sent a message directly to its sisters. Whenever my students and I visit the grove, we meditate and send mental pictures of particular trees from around the world to the cedars. They (the cedars) now have a vast communication network that is accessible from my thoughts and prayers.

Now, I am certain that the trees had lines of communication long before I came into their realm and that they “talked” to one another in “tree talk”. The addition of mental images of trees from South America or California or China created a visual pathway for me and helps me to send thoughts and prayers to plants and people many oceans away. Sometimes I need this mental bridge to stay in communication with the awareness that everything physical is embodied spirit. I need bridges to span the illusion of my isolation and separateness. Daily alignment with Source/Self/Other in prayer and meditation leads me inward to the deepest place of knowledge, acceptance, gratitude and grace.

While the overall goal of yoga practices is to facilitate and awaken spiritual awareness, there are also many documented physical benefits. These include improved functioning of all bodily systems, and in particular the immune system is strengthened. Other benefits include the slowing of the biological aging process as well as an overall reduction of stress indicators. Clearer thinking processes, improved intellectual skills, enhanced creativity, and an overall increased appreciation for living are also some of the many benefits of yoga practice...

Click Here To Read The Remainder Of This Article On Why Yoga Works.

Dr. Johnson, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and many other books, presents this parable to business, church groups, schools, military organizations--anyplace where you find people who may fear or resist change. And although more analytical and skeptical readers may find the tale a little too simplistic, its beauty is that it sums up all natural history in just 94 pages: Things change. They always have changed and always will change. And while there's no single way to deal with change, the consequence of pretending change won't happen is always the same: The cheese runs out. - Lou Schuler (Amazon.com Reviewer)