My dear friend, and gifted artist, V said the most interesting thing today that really set me to thinking about what constitutes prayer. V is an artist and she's doing drawings in her prayer journal. What a great idea! I believe that a conversation can be a prayer, a song can be a prayer, a poem can be a prayer, a painting can be a prayer, a drawing can be a prayer. LOTS of things can be a prayer, or a form of praying.
Several years ago, I did a Lenten project while traveling to Ireland during the Lenten season. I decided to read a book or two and do a little study on the attributes of God. My friend, Peggy, who was a huge supporter of my years as a photographer said I should take pictures as my Lenten project -- so I combined the two and wrote a book on the Attributes of God and illustrated it with photographs of Ireland.
Throughout those weeks in Ireland, I was struck by the fact that I felt as if I were in constant prayer. It was a remarkable feeling and spiritiually rewarding. I was reading, photographing, laughing, driving, eating, sleeping, thinking -- and all of it felt amazingly like prayer. It WAS prayer.
I have had moments when a piece of music lifted me beyond heaven into the arms of God. Isn't that prayer?
I have seen sunsets, sunrises, flocks of birds, and cloud formations that made me begin an intense feeling of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that prayer?
Who can say what prayer is? To me, it is a moment of connection with God -- often accompanied by a word of thanksgiving for the glory and splendor of whatever it is I'm immersed in.
I don't know about you, but for me, that's prayer.
So, what's prayer for you? What different things feel like prayer?
~D
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