Prayer beads or worry beads have long been used by various cultures such as Asian, African, Middle East, Anatolian, Ottoman, Turkish, Greek and Indian for meditation, protection from negative energy and to relieve stress. It must have been from these that St. Dominic, whose feast is being celebrated today, got his idea for the rosary and, in the process, gave Catholics their greatest Marian devotion. And since then, Catholics have been praying the rosary for meditation, for protection against evil and disaster and to relieve fear and distress. Many Filipinos automatically cling to their rosary beads when in trouble, when they want to pray, when they need supplication or intercession for things they need or dreams they desire. It is amazing how, with a change in perspective, we can change something ordinary into something sacred.
During our recent bus tour to the American Southwest, I was constantly amazed at how such a change in perspective would open for me a whole new horizon. I am standing at a bluff. I take a few steps forward and I see the splendor of the valley below. I am admiring the the desert blooms. I take a closer look and see all the colorful little bugs and creatures frolicking on the cacti. I am staring in awe at a massive mountainside. I move to the right and allow the sunlight to play on the rocky wall and the colors become even more stunning and dramatic. I marvel at the beauty and bounty of nature and I catch a glimpse of God.
I can go through life with the perspective that this all there is to it and nothing more. Or, I can live it like it were the promise of something more and discover the infinite richness that is waiting for me.
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
Matthew 16:13-17,21-23