As nice as it is to not feel like I need to pray every spare moment, a cross I have carried for the past few years, I have realized that I kind of miss prayer. I think it's a very natural thing to want somebody to talk to. We all have quiet moments where we feel the need to thank somebody, and frantic moments when we need to ask for help.
Today, I enjoyed my lunch break outside at a local park. I sat on the empty bleachers overlooking a baseball field where nothing was happening but mowing. It was gorgeous outside and I stretched my bare shins onto the seats in front of me, hoping they would get some end of the summer sun. As I ate my peanut butter and jelly in peace, I wanted to thank somebody for that moment.
Instead of directing my gratefulness toward a certain divinity, I just looked at what I had to be thankful for and sighed with contentment. It may not feel as certain as addressing the Thank-You note to God and IMing it felt, but it doesn't make what I am happy for any less good. I think acknowledging your feelings, whether joyful and wanting to praise or fearful and looking for aid, is a big part of what makes prayer "work"- or what makes us feel better after we pray. Reflecting, meditating, focusing on the positive- haven't self-help books been praising these practices for years?
And I, a certain Christian, scoffed at those words and took comfort in the fact that my prayers weren't just staying inside my mind, but were actually being heard... now, not so sure.
Of course my favorite way to pray is to play in the mountains. Or to just be in them. It in itself is a spiritual experience for me. Every. Single. Time. Completely rejuvenating. More energy. More happiness. More faith. Greater sense of spirituality and purpose. Being in nature is the greatest reminder for me of what all is out there that humans did NOT create, and increases my awe and wonder in those things which we do not understand.
ReplyDeleteAUGH! It only posted half of my comment!
ReplyDeleteWhat I started that comment off with was something related to this:
I have a lot of friends in my yoga community who don't go to church or no longer go to church, but still live very fulfilling and spiritual lives. I think it's in the nature of yoga: The word "yoga" literally means "yoke," like the things in Oregon Trail that connected oxen together, but with a meaning much closer to "union." Union of the mind and body. Union of perception and reality. Union of the self to the universe. There is lots of talk about how yoga is "praying with my body." Somehow through doing it you're connecting with whatever it is that connects us all. And, of course, every class ends in a collective "Namaste," which in word captures the essence of "the greatness in me blesses and honors the greatness in you," all in one word. Where "amen" means "let it be so," there's somehow something so much more reverent in a final "namaste," like whatever power it is that's out there runs through all of us, and it's wonderful.