Praying With Our Hands

Prayer is the most universal expression of the presence of God. We express devotion, rage, submission, and many other emotions in prayer. We often plead in prayer. In fact, when the professed nonbeliever pleads in prayer at a time of crisis, we may say that she is not really a nonbeliever after all.

We most often think of prayer as something spoken, but it can also be expressed in other ways. What we say, what we do, and how we do it all express God's presence, when we are prayerful....

Consider for a moment the statement of the Jewish mystic and theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel, who said of his experience marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Alabama, "My feet were praying." The meaning in our heads can become the meaning in our bodies. When we use our bodies with spiritual intent, both our bodies and the occasion become sacred. Sometimes these bodily actions accompany spoken prayers; sometimes they are prayers in and of themselves.

In saying "My feet were praying," Heschel meant that our bodies can embody prayer, or be places where prayer is actively happening. Our actions and movements can be expressions of prayer to God. We don't--or shouldn't--just think our prayers. We can embody the feelings and emotions usually expressed only as spoken or mental prayers in our actions. Prayer can involve our bodies as much as our minds, as we communicate with God, bless, honor, and petition God, rage in the presence of God, and show our devotion. We can show and express with our bodies what we say and express with our minds. This is prayer in motion--and it takes practice. If you try, you can see that prayer can take many forms, and simple actions can have profound meaning in your spiritual life.

Continued on page 2: »