Cornucopia / Cynthia Dewes
Let’s make time to pray, no matter how we are comfortable doing it
Lent is the time to increase prayer. Our parish is doing its bit with a prayer discussion series on Lenten weekends. Other parishes and individuals are making similar efforts.
When we think about prayer, we may visualize the Albrecht Durer picture of the praying hands. That’s a popular prayer gesture, but not the only one because there are so many kinds of prayer.
To many of us, the word “prayer” means formal prayers that we recite—Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and saying the rosary or other prayers from memory. Although this sometimes leads to spacing out if we’re tired or preoccupied, it could be a way to access God in inner privacy.
The spiritual energy we can gain from reciting formal prayers with others at a retreat or a prayer meeting or at Mass is often impressive and inspiring. The graces we receive are somehow increased by being in a group of fellow believers. It increases and embellishes our faith.
Meditative prayer is more individual by definition. When we meditate, we have an inner dialogue with ourselves and, hopefully, with God. We search our hearts and minds to find God’s will and follow it as we continue on in life.
The late Father Al Ajamie always used to quote the saying, “He who sings prays twice,” and I agree. Even when we’re not musically inclined, music lifts our prayer to a level we never expected. I’ve even heard tone-deaf folks belting out hymns with such feeling that it was inspiring, if not exactly easy on the ear.
And when we listen to the glorious music produced by a Mozart, we can only wonder at God’s generosity. Even Salieri, Mozart’s contemporary, admired his sublime gift and wondered why such a flawed man could speak so perfectly of God’s beauty and wonder. And it’s not only Mozart whose music inspires us. There are folk songs and Gregorian chant and even rock pieces, among other types of music, that inspire prayer.
Most of us probably learn to pray as children. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep” still comforts me when I’m falling asleep. The example of parents who pray with their kids is a foundation for lasting faith. And seeing one’s parents pray together or privately teaches an important lesson. Even so small a gesture as saying grace at meals in a meaningful way teaches prayer.
The thing is, prayer is such an individual matter, as is personal faith. Some people can employ many kinds of prayer in their routines, such as communal prayer at Mass, and meditative prayer in private using prayer guides or Scripture readings, and participating in religious study groups. Other people may not be comfortable in group situations, or they may feel unequipped and kind of embarrassed by attempts at private prayer.
It seems to me that, whether it comes easily to us or not, we all desire to talk to God and to listen to what he has to tell us. There’s an innate longing to be whole, to connect with our source of life. We all know that we need lots of help to get through life, and we can’t do it alone.
But we are also grateful for life, for the beauty in God’s creation, and for the love given to us by others. Reason enough, I think, to talk to God in whatever form of prayer it may take. He’s always listening.
(Cynthia Dewes, a member of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Greencastle, is a regular columnist for The Criterion.) †