The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on August 8, 2025 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Every day, the sun rises and sets. Every day, the moon also rises and sets. These ongoing rhythms point to patterns. Over time, we come to rely on the rhythms and trust in the patterns. No matter what, the sun will always rise in the morning. No matter how dark the night gets, the light returns. Similarly, there are certain times for clear-sighted, comparative, and active ways of knowing and being in the world, akin to the sunlight, and there are times for mysterious, interconnected, and resting ways of knowing and being in the world, akin to the moonlight. To notice these universal rhythms and live into their subtle meanings is to work the muscles of prayer, to build strength in the assurances of repetition and meaning, to find faith in the good, the true and the beautiful, to participate in the circles of Life.
Rhythms of creation also point to prayer in the particulars. In every given context, there are specific rhythms that emerge based on the conditions of the locality. A chorus of birds can be heard at dusk and dawn, and which birds are heard may depend on whether it’s summer or winter. A particular pair of birds can be seen flitting back and forth from the ground to a specific tree, repeatedly, as they build a nest in the spring. After a few months, the demands of life will cause their rhythms to change. When we encounter these particular rhythms in creation, offering our loving attention to the activity of other beings, they can reflect to us invitations for our own well-being. The demands of life on our days also change, and the rhythms and forms of our prayer should also shift.
May we join in the dance of rhythms in creation and offer our prayers as expressions of communion and participation in Life!
