Inside And Outside

 I often speak of prayer as getting inside yourself, to your deeper self in meditation.  But prayer of this sort or any prayer is to help us get “outside” ourself.  Yes, we do pray to get things, but if we are on a spiritual path, what we want to get is in part to be of service to others.  Just wanting what I want when I want it for no other purpose than  to feel better is not getting outside oneself but rather feeding the self and becoming more insular.  This can feed isolation.  So if I ask God to feel better, I hope I have some purpose outside myself.