Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing
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The Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing is performed by humanoid Cylons when they believe that downloading is impossible and final death is near.
Several Cylons, all infected by a contagion found on an ancient beacon, crawl to each other on their stricken basestar to say the prayer.
The prayer, interrupted by shouts of the Colonials as they assess the situation of living Cylons in their midst is: "Heavenly father [. . .] grant us the strength...the wisdom [. . .] and above all...a measure of acceptance..."
Lee Adama learns of this prayer from Sharon Agathon and witnesses the event (A Measure of Salvation). When the Number Six model Natalie is brought to sickbay after being shot, and knowing that she might die, she starts reciting this prayer (Sine Qua Non).
The prayer is performed by the rebel Cylons, led by Ellen Tigh, at a joint service for the human and Cylon crew killed by a recent hull breach on Galactica (Islanded in a Stream of Stars):
- For those that we have lost in the past, and for those that we are burying today, we must remember, there is a higher purpose. Heavenly father, grant us the strength, the wisdom, and above all, a measure of acceptance, however small.
Notes
- The name of this prayer is a direct reference to a Christian centering prayer created in the 16th Century on the real-world Earth, which creates further parallels between the Cylon God and real-world Judeo-Christianity in the Re-imagined Series, in contrast to the Colonial polythesism.
- The prayer bears similarity to the Serenity Prayer often used by Twelve step programs:
- "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
- courage to change the things I can,
- and (the) wisdom to know the difference."
