Tradition is important to all Christians, whether they like it or not. Or rather, whether they like to recognize it or not.For example, when you're taught from a young age to pray a certain way--hands together, eyes shut, head bowed--you just don't see any reason not to. Unless you're like me, and you think too much.
(On a brief tangent, I've always wondered why Protestants follow this totally extra-biblical pattern for prayer, yet they don't make the sign of the cross like Catholics, Orthodox, or even high church Anglican or Lutheran. It's interesting what we choose to hold on to.)
Last night while I was praying, I realized that closing my eyes while I'm praying has always had a good and a bad effect on my life with God.
On the good side, it is important to recognize the transcendence of God, that you aren't praying to a deity embodied in a little idol in front of you. God is in heaven, meaning, in a way, He is very far from your grasp.
But on the bad side, I noticed that it causes me to treat God as utterly transcendent and not imminent. I realized that often when I finish a prayer and open my eyes, it is as if I have left the presence of God and entered the "real world."
In philosophical terms, it reinforces the dualism that so easily permeates our culture. The line between sacred and secular is firmly established by my eyelids.
Last night, I decided midway through my prayer to gradually and deliberately open my eyes, while fixing my mind on God. It was as if a channel between heaven and earth was opened. God was still there, even in such a setting as a 23 year-old's bedroom, complete with books piled everywhere and my desk still a bit cluttered.
I felt a burst of joy from this, what you would probably call a "spiritual experience." I felt so silly that a simple habit like closing my eyes could have such a huge impact on how I lived my day to day existence, yet there it was. I have been missing out.
I decided that even so there ought to be a period during each prayer when my eyes are closed, because God is in heaven as well as on earth. But somehow there has to be a way to leave the gate between heaven and earth open. Perhaps a simple a thing as opening and closing the eyes gradually at certain points during the prayer can place the believer in a state of understanding this connection between God and earth.
I've always felt the specifics of prayer were relevant in the discussion of Christianity, but I find Christians are often pretty shallow, even evasive, on the topic. It's as if your physical body doesn't matter when you're praying. I think this is what I've been taught in the church most of my life, without anyone ever actually saying it.
It's good to have a blog for these things. That way I don't have to have a reason to come up to a friend and say, "You know what I realized last night...?" I can just put it out there for the whole world to see.
"It's good to have a blog for these things. That way I don't have to have a reason to come up to a friend and say, "You know what I realized last night...?" I can just put it out there for the whole world to see."
ReplyDeleteThank you Jameson, for coming onto my blog comments and rescuing my hoped intentions from amongst the dogma. I agree with so much of what you say, I'm just surprised you haven't attracted your share of criticisms yet, it must be because you aren't as flippant as me:)
That aside, I'm going to show this post to my husband. He has actually banned perfuctory mealtime prayers from our household because he feels it can pressures a believer into an insincere routine. This view has not been popular with our Christian peers, but Jim says "Well, where in the Bible does it demand a pre-meal, pre-snack, prayer?"
Don't get me wrong, if we want to pray before a special meal, or simply because we are feeling particularly grateful at that moment, then it's fine.
But I think Jim would be glad to know that he isn't the only one out there who thinks about these things as well.
Thanks for your comment, Annie! Haha, I think that's really interesting about ceasing prayer around the dinner table. Sola Scriptura at its finest.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have been getting into all this high church theology of the Eucharist, which actually sees the Lord's supper as a spiritual experience, and somehow this has led me to the idea that giving thanks before each meal is somehow a sort of echo of that. It's like I'm constantly ordering my life around the Lord's supper, which is really cool, I think. But if you don't think of it that way, I can see how it would become tedious.
Anyway, this is really fun how bloggers can randomly connect like this. Technology is so wonderful.