The Pageless Book

Note: While originally I started doing a website review series called “Religious Tolerance Website Death Match,” I’ve decided that avenue might be a touch too silly for my blog’s subject matter. As such, I am starting a new series today called “Site in Focus”, to review websites that deal with religious tolerance and spirituality that my readership might be interested in. Silliness and humor is very much apart of my personality, however, so don’t expect that to disappear completely from my website. I’m not above poking fun at myself, religion, or even the Divine itself… as I suspect the Divine has quite a time doing the same to us.

World Prayers.Org is one of those websites that everyone should bookmark and visit for occasional inspiration. The objective of the website is straight forward enough: “to gather the great prayers written by the spiritual visionaries of our planet into an online database representing all life affirming traditions.” The beauty of the website, however, is in its usefulness and easy navigation.

World Prayers.Org features a randomized “prayer wheel” as well as a standard search option and categories. While it may seem a little hard to find the standard search option, I feel that this might be a feature of the website, rather then a flaw. The website seeks to promote religious tolerance through exposure to the prayers of different faith traditions. If the prayer wheel option was not more accessible than the standard search option, it would be easier to avoid reading the prayers of other faiths, defeating the purpose.

The prayers are divided up into four distinct groupings:

• Adorations: Prayers of devotion, surrender, love, praise and offering.
• Celebrations: Prayers of thanksgiving, initiation, affirmation and blessing.
• Invocations: Prayers of petition, supplication, calling forth and healing.
• Meditations: Prayers of reflection, contemplation, being and teaching.

World Prayers.Org is a non-profit organization, so it does make requests for donations. However, the requests for donations are not intrusive, leaving the website with a simple and pleasing design. And monetary donations are not the only methods of contributing to the website - you may also volunteer to help program the site, or suggest a prayer to be included on the website. Unlike many for-profit websites, there are no ads, scrolling texts, or flash elements to get in the way of enjoying it.

I do hope you give World Prayers.Org a try and tell me what you think. Below is a prayer I found, and I’m including it to give you a taste of what is available. Namaste.

When someone is full of Love and Compassion,
he cannot draw a line between
two countries, two faiths, or two religions.

- amma