“When you sing, you pray twice.”
- Saint Augustine
“Asking for something from God does not mean talking God into it; it means an awakening of the gift within ourselves.”
- Richard Rohr
I’ve been pondering the meaning of prayer in my life and would like to share some thoughts and ideas. Many of these thoughts have been brought into closer focus through readings of Rohr. There are probably as many definitions and perceptions of prayer as there are of God, or worship, or reverence. Perhaps the definition of prayer which most often comes to mind is that of an act of communion with God as a request. In our Western, extraverted, “can-do” culture, prayer can too easily become an attempt to change God and aggrandize ourselves instead of being an interior practice to “change the one who is praying”. Rohr continues to say: “Prayer is the way to make contact with God/Ultimate Reality, but it is not an attempt to change God’s mind about us or about events. Such attempts are what the secularists make fun of - and rightly so. It is primarily about changing our mind so that things like infinity, mystery, and forgiveness can resound within us.”
Another perspective of prayer is as an outpouring of praise and thanksgiving, as in this story. A little girl, seeing the first yellow dandelion on the spring lawn, ran to it, plucked it, held it over her head like a parasol and pirouetted in a ballet of irrepressible happiness for the wholly unearned gift of life, of beauty, of wonderful goodness. It was a vision of prayer: a prayer of grace, of joy, of thanksgiving.
For me, prayer can mean any spiritual practice or inner journey that allows me to deepen into the fullness of love within myself and also any experience where I feel the deep connection with divine source, which often occurs through music.
I was fortunate to find this story from a reflection I shared twenty years ago when I was part of team that led Vespers services. It is John Buehrens’ recount of his conversation with his grandmother when he asked her why she chose to go to church. She answers with tears in her eyes, “Sometimes my soul feels so empty, my faith so small. When I go to church, I think of you and your brothers and cousins. Any my hope grows. I pray for all children, and my soul grows bigger.” Prayer does not change God - it changes us and our community - it helps our souls grow bigger.
It is my hope and covenant that music in the life of our church will help our souls grow bigger. Once again we are blessed to have wonderful offerings of music during the month of March:
7 Nadine Roddy, Celtic Harp
14 Charlottesville Women’s Choir
21 Voices of Community - “For the Sake of our Children” with viola and percussion
28 Children’s Choirs and the trio of Bob Gross, Megan Ward, and Liz Lindau
May our souls grow bigger so we can envelop others in our love.
KaeRenae