Sunday, May 29, 2016

On the Silent Wings of Prayer

True prayer requires no word, no chant
no gesture, no sound.
It is communion, calm and still
with our own godly Ground.
- Angelus Silesius


On the Silent Wings of Prayer

What is it to pray? If we say the word ‘God’ to ten people in a room, then it is quite likely that in those ten different heads there will be ten different ideas of what ‘God’ actually is, and what God means to them. Perhaps prayer is like this as well. We have a general idea of what a prayer is. We think of an attitude of praying, and of reciting, either aloud or silently, either in company as part of a congregation, or in solitude, a formularized verse or passage of text. Or perhaps our prayer is in the form of a petition: we are asking for something of a higher Self beyond ourselves.

What that ‘something’ is might cover a spectrum of interests and hopes. On a rather material level, we might pray for victory in a conflict, or even success in some sporting event. On a more personal level, we might ask for help, or for strength and courage in a situation which we feel overwhelms us. We might ask to keep a dear one safe in a situation of peril, or for guidance in navigating our way through trying circumstances which bewilder us, and which leave us unsure which way to turn.

As well as the above examples there might be many more situations in which we pray, the form which our prayers take, and what we are praying for. But one thing which all these sorts of prayers have in common, whether spoken aloud or voiced silently within ourselves, is that they are all, in some form, prayers with words. We use our own familiar language in which to pray. But is this the only way to pray?

Prayer is prayer, and perhaps prayer can be reduced to intention only. Perhaps, if our intention is there, then we do not even need words to pray. In this sense, perhaps intention is the purest form of prayer: a silent connection with the Divine that not only is without words, but which goes beyond words, beyond the limitations of language to become a pure expression of the spirit. The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore described trees as the expression of an endless striving of earth towards heaven. In this mystic striving of the forms of nature we may glimpse this wordless prayer, this intention of all things to connect with that mysterious Other, encountered in a place beyond words, beyond human language.

The other evening I watched a large flock of starlings wheel and turn in the soft light of dusk. What mysterious figures were they tracing out in the twilit sky? I could only stand in silence and wonder at the myriad pairs of wings turning in perfect harmony, describing their unknown language in the paths of their flight. I could not interpret their lace-like traceries, but in those many wings I felt that I had glimpsed a wordless prayer made visible.




10 comments:

  1. A wordless prayer made visible...I think nature in all her wisdom often encircles us with unspoken grace.

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    1. So true, Joss. We are always surrounded by grace, we just need to be open to it!

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  2. Thank you dear Emma for your beautiful contemplation on prayer! I agree that prayer can be wordless and consist of pure intention. There are so many thoughts and opinions on the act of praying but I found something from Mother Teresa that I thought was quite beautiful,
    “In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.” (Mother Teresa, In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers)
    When Mother Teresa states that we are 'nothing' I believe she is pointing to our temporal personal identity, the little self. Who we truly are is the eternal Divine, so in Christian terms Mother Teresa states that we are then 'filled with Himself.' Is there a point at which prayer turns into contemplation or meditation? A quote by Diane Robinson has sometimes offered me an easy way to explain meditation to some Christians who are not familiar with it: “Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.” Perhaps the purest intention is a surrendering to the Divine. I think St. Francis expressed this in his prayer, "Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.."
    And yes I do feel that all of nature is a prayer. Perhaps nature is an expression of the divine Oneness coming back to itself, like a grand circle. When we commune with nature we can feel a deep inner connection without knowing why or comprehending it. When we are in the stillness of one moment perhaps we are opening a gateway to the eternal. Thank you for your wonderful blog.

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    1. Thank you, dear Joseph, for supplementing my blog post with such meaningful thoughts from others on this subject. The explanation by Diane Robinson is so touching! I think too that there is a sense in which nature is itself a visible prayer, and in the silences of nature we perhaps more easily attune ourselves to this wordless prayer.

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  3. Dearest Emma I found much peace and connection from reading your writing here on the concepts of "prayer." My personal upbringing was "spotty" to say the least with regards to any consistency in education, practice or theory of God. Yet since a child I have known in my heart there is more to this world than just me. My heart has always known something deeper, something bigger, that is out there. Yes in a church setting I was taught what "they" taught me about prayer. I, on the other hand, believe what you say about prayer. It is a very personal, intimate and loving connection with the beyond. My choice is a silent prayer and I chose to do it alone. Not in public places, not at dining room tables and not in established religious facilities. I chose to pray in Nature. Where the trees, the seas, the rivers and skies and all living creatures become all of one of the same and my silent without words prayer is lifted into the Sun or the Moon on "The Silent Wings of Prayer." Today is the first time I have ever voiced what my heart feels about prayer and I thank you Emma for this opportunity to share one woman's view of prayer. <3

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    1. Thank you, dearest Deborah, for such a gracious sharing of your own thoughts about prayer, moving my spirit because they so deeply resonate with me .. as my prayers are mostly wordless .. the sea my church. I am truly grateful that you voiced what your heart feels about prayer. ♥♥♥

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  4. I've never discuss on this topic with anybody. For the first time in my life somebody , you dear Emma, said out loud what I felt and thought since ever. Thank you.
    And I've found myself in Debora's words. My temple is the Divine Nature, as well. ♥

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    1. I am truly grateful that my post did resonate with you, dear Rajna. It is what I can only hope for when I am writing, that others find their own connections with what I write.♥♥♥

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  5. Our ordinary everyday lives are all acts of worship - our minds are temmples of the Divine - it just depends on which aspect of the Divine we worship. Often we believe we act in love and in an effort to help another, but we cannot see beyond the intent and the veil, so I agree with you, Emma, prayer devoid of word and thought is true prayer from the Void, from the All, pure and powerful beyond mind.

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    1. This is indeed what I believe, Hettienne, and how I see things. This 'wordless prayer' is of necessity devoid of all prescribed formulas which can come between direct contact with the spirit. To contemplate the Divine is in itself an act of prayer.

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