Much like when light shines on the branches and leaves of trees in the forest, the life of prayer is also dappled. Naturally, there are spots, patches, and blotches that cause patterns of light and dark to form.
Prayer is Simple
It is easy to complicate prayer. Especially in communal, liturgical, and ritual prayer, the temptation to add more words, sounds, and gestures can make prayer feel more like a heavy package than a treasured gift. Over time, the packaging of prayer can feel more like heavy, burdensome baggage and less like light, life-giving sustenance. This is the shadow of carrying prayer our time in a tradition – it can become too heavy to pass on easily from one generation to the next.
Topics:
Contemplative Practice
The Flow of Prayer
In different times and diverse places, people notice and name the Divine in a variety of ways. Polytheism, monotheism, pantheism, atheism, and non-theism traditions are just a few examples of the many ways to identify God. How we name the Holy One will impact our experience of prayer.
Topics:
Contemplative Practice
Prayer is Like the Wind
Wind is invisible, yet it is a real force that impacts the world. The same is true for prayer.
Topics:
Contemplative Practice
Prayer is Hard
Yes, prayer is great, but it can also be hard.
There are so many ways to pray, and it can be hard to not only learn the many ways of prayer, but also to discern the forms of prayer that are life-giving.
Topics:
Contemplative Practice
Prayer is Breath
If we were to survey folks in response to the question, “What is essential activity to support human life?” most likely responses would include eating, drinking, sleeping, making love (reproduction!), and perhaps some kind of work. Likely, many of us would forget to name a key essential activity necessary for staying alive—breathing! Since most of us breathe without thinking of it, we don’t regularly consider it explicitly. Breath’s work is implicit, often hidden, yet essential.
Topics:
Contemplative Practice