"The greatest prayer is patience." ~The Buddha

I received what may seem to many people an odd Christmas present. My husband gave me a set of Buddhist prayer flags, something I have wanted for some time. Several houses in our neighborhood have these flags strung on their porches or across a space in the backyard. I always love looking at them as they are lifted by the wind throughout the seasons. Mine are brilliant primary colors…red,green,yellow and blue.. and are the size of a small handkerchief. They are strung on a strong white rope like a clothesline and I have hung them at the edge of our deck on a tall trellis. Printed in each corner of the flag are horses that seem to be flying. The instruction card that came with the flags explained the belief that these flying horses carry our prayers toward heaven as the flags are borne on the wind.

Even for this good Christian girl, this is a lovely image, a comforting thought. Prayers carried upward, outward, on the wind toward the One who hears the cries and laughter of each of us. I also like to think of those prayers being carried on the wind toward the houses of our neighbors perhaps adding the prayers held within those walls as the wind and the horses fly by. I'd like to think that if I could listen closely enough, intently enough,  I could hear the prayers myself as they are carried on the wind.  

Our prayer flags right now are bright with the dye that created their color. But over time they will fade in the sun and elements. Their edges will no doubt tear and become worn and raveled. If you look at National Geographic photos taken in Tibet or other countries where prayer flags are prominent, you will see these weathered lines of cloth strung between ravine and gorge, on the highest peaks of mountains. All have been placed in precarious places to hold the visible image of prayer that binds a people together, that reminds all who see them that the deepest longings of our hearts caries great power.

These cold days are having their way with our prayer flags. They are being tossed and thrown about by the force of sub-zero winds.Sometimes it can seem as if all our prayers are being jostled in such a way. But the horses that continue to find their home in the corners of brilliant color look up to the challenge. I feel stronger when I look at them and am comforted by their brightness against the extreme monochromatic white of the landscape. It is a good thing to have such a visible reminder of the prayers that hold us all together….even when we forget they are riding on the wind.