From time to time, it is important for me to write about some standard issues in spirituality. One of the most standard issues, surely, is prayer. Certainly in the traditional Western religious traditions---Judaism, Christianity and Islam---prayer is seen to be central to the practices of the religion. Prayer is commonplace to these traditions, and yet I am sure many followers within these traditions find it difficult to pray on a regular basis. And many probably don’t even care.
I recall the opening words of her chapter on prayer in her book, An Altar in the Word, when Barbara Brown Taylor says, “I know that a chapter on prayer belongs in this book, but I dread to write it.” I am sure she gets a laugh from her audience when she reads out loud the following couple sentences. “I am a failure at prayer. When people ask me about my prayer life, I feel like a bulimic must feel when people ask about her favorite dish.” She follows this with another funny line. She confesses, “I would rather show someone my checkbook stubs than talk about my prayer life.”
Taylor informs us that a monk helped her with her prayer life. David Steindl-Rast is the monk whom I know through his books, but I have never met. By now he is a very old guy---must be in his nineties. But he exudes an aura of wisdom. I have seen him speaking on YouTube videos and you figure he knows what he is talking about! So let’s listen to what he tells Barbara Taylor.
Taylor notes that Steindl-Rast “was the first person to tell me that prayer is not the same thing as prayers.” He continued, “Prayer…is waking up to the presence of God no matter where I am or what I am doing.” The he detailed what he meant. “When I am fully alert to whatever or whoever is right in front of me; when I am electrically aware of the tremendous gift of being alive; when I am able to give myself wholly to the moment I am in, then I am in prayer. Prayer is a happening, and it is not necessarily something that I am doing. God is happening, and I am lucky enough to know that I am in The Midst.”
Let take some time to unpack this. I find it helpful to distinguish prayer from prayers. This distinction offers a chance to reflect on just what prayer is. To think about prayer is to take some time to define prayer. I suspect most of us who grow up in a church never take the opportunity to define prayer. We learn prayer by imitation. I know I did. I watched a couple old ladies who were frequent prayers and tried to imitate what they said and how they said it. As a kid, you assume the older ones know exactly what they are doing! Now that I am older, I don’t make that mistake.
I like Brother David’s basic definition that prayer is waking up to the presence of God. To live a life without prayer risks living life unaware of God and God’s role in the world. And if I am not aware of God, then I assume God has nothing to do with life. After all, it is fairly easy to understand our world and life without God. Unless you have eyes of faith, God is not obvious! But to pray is to wake up. This is a time-honored image. As early as the time of Jesus, the image of sleep was used to describe ignorance or lack of attention.
Following up this image, it is easy to understand how so many of us are sleep-walking through life. In our scientific description, we might talk about living like robots. However, as robots get as smart as people, we may have to change this metaphor! The alternative to sleep-walking and living robotically is to live a life of prayer. This is a life of awakening. When we are awake, we are likely to see God where I am or what I am doing. This suggests it is possible to see God almost anytime and anywhere. This is what Brother David offers in his detailed look at prayer.
Steindl-Rast knows that life is an amazing gift. When I am awake, I see and know this. And this knowing takes me to God, the creator. Brother David talks about giving myself to the moment. My guess is most folks think they do, but if they reflect, I suspect they would come to realize how often they hold back or even refuse to give themselves to the moment. If we are focused on our own ego, then it is unlikely we are going to give ourselves to the moment.
I am intrigued when Brother David says prayer is happening. That makes it present tense. And that makes it active. Prayer is now---or it is never. And when prayer is happening, God is happening. Theologically, that may seem to be an odd way to put it. Most of us don’t think about “God happening.” But think about it. If God is happening, that means God is here and now---present. And God is actively here and now. If we have eyes of faith, we see it and know it.
And all this may lead us to prayers. We may give thanks, petition God for something, etc. But basic prayer is being awake and participating in the happening which is God and prayer. No wonder this will lead to hallelujahs!
I recall the opening words of her chapter on prayer in her book, An Altar in the Word, when Barbara Brown Taylor says, “I know that a chapter on prayer belongs in this book, but I dread to write it.” I am sure she gets a laugh from her audience when she reads out loud the following couple sentences. “I am a failure at prayer. When people ask me about my prayer life, I feel like a bulimic must feel when people ask about her favorite dish.” She follows this with another funny line. She confesses, “I would rather show someone my checkbook stubs than talk about my prayer life.”
Taylor informs us that a monk helped her with her prayer life. David Steindl-Rast is the monk whom I know through his books, but I have never met. By now he is a very old guy---must be in his nineties. But he exudes an aura of wisdom. I have seen him speaking on YouTube videos and you figure he knows what he is talking about! So let’s listen to what he tells Barbara Taylor.
Taylor notes that Steindl-Rast “was the first person to tell me that prayer is not the same thing as prayers.” He continued, “Prayer…is waking up to the presence of God no matter where I am or what I am doing.” The he detailed what he meant. “When I am fully alert to whatever or whoever is right in front of me; when I am electrically aware of the tremendous gift of being alive; when I am able to give myself wholly to the moment I am in, then I am in prayer. Prayer is a happening, and it is not necessarily something that I am doing. God is happening, and I am lucky enough to know that I am in The Midst.”
Let take some time to unpack this. I find it helpful to distinguish prayer from prayers. This distinction offers a chance to reflect on just what prayer is. To think about prayer is to take some time to define prayer. I suspect most of us who grow up in a church never take the opportunity to define prayer. We learn prayer by imitation. I know I did. I watched a couple old ladies who were frequent prayers and tried to imitate what they said and how they said it. As a kid, you assume the older ones know exactly what they are doing! Now that I am older, I don’t make that mistake.
I like Brother David’s basic definition that prayer is waking up to the presence of God. To live a life without prayer risks living life unaware of God and God’s role in the world. And if I am not aware of God, then I assume God has nothing to do with life. After all, it is fairly easy to understand our world and life without God. Unless you have eyes of faith, God is not obvious! But to pray is to wake up. This is a time-honored image. As early as the time of Jesus, the image of sleep was used to describe ignorance or lack of attention.
Following up this image, it is easy to understand how so many of us are sleep-walking through life. In our scientific description, we might talk about living like robots. However, as robots get as smart as people, we may have to change this metaphor! The alternative to sleep-walking and living robotically is to live a life of prayer. This is a life of awakening. When we are awake, we are likely to see God where I am or what I am doing. This suggests it is possible to see God almost anytime and anywhere. This is what Brother David offers in his detailed look at prayer.
Steindl-Rast knows that life is an amazing gift. When I am awake, I see and know this. And this knowing takes me to God, the creator. Brother David talks about giving myself to the moment. My guess is most folks think they do, but if they reflect, I suspect they would come to realize how often they hold back or even refuse to give themselves to the moment. If we are focused on our own ego, then it is unlikely we are going to give ourselves to the moment.
I am intrigued when Brother David says prayer is happening. That makes it present tense. And that makes it active. Prayer is now---or it is never. And when prayer is happening, God is happening. Theologically, that may seem to be an odd way to put it. Most of us don’t think about “God happening.” But think about it. If God is happening, that means God is here and now---present. And God is actively here and now. If we have eyes of faith, we see it and know it.
And all this may lead us to prayers. We may give thanks, petition God for something, etc. But basic prayer is being awake and participating in the happening which is God and prayer. No wonder this will lead to hallelujahs!
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