Prayer seems to be a fitting topic for this time of year, at the end of Lent and just in time for Easter and Passover. What is prayer? I’m sure there are definitions to be had. I think prayer is something specific to each person. To some, it is worshipping God, reminding oneself of the greatness of God, the omnipotence and omniscience of God. For some, it is clearing one’s mind and focusing on inner peace, on quieting the mental chatter and clatter that makes one feel stressed, pressured, inadequate, and all of those lovely thoughts. I think prayer is a time of focused thinking, or concentration, whether it is concentrating on one’s breathing and absence of thought, which some call meditation, or talking to God, or about God. I think prayer can be active—an act of service to others. I went to 3 animal shelters the other day, looking for a dog. I was humbled at the efforts of the many selfless people who spend their days caring for and cleaning up after these animals who have no place else to go. To me, that is a form of prayer, and I’m sure that some of those people actually pray on behalf of those animals. I used to make blankets for Project Linus, and like many of the other volunteers, as I would cut and sew, I would find myself praying for the children who would eventually receive the blankets. Did that come full circle when my daughter received one of those blankets when she was unexpectedly hospitalized, when she had to undergo a painful, scary procedure in the middle of the night? It certainly did. Like Jodi, I have prayed for friends, loved ones, pets, and strangers. I’ve prayed for people I don’t like or understand—and that can be really tough, to pray under those circumstances with no motive other than the well-being of an adversary.
To me, prayer is many things, and yet they are all the same. A focus on something bigger than ourselves, something outside ourselves, something that even for a brief moment takes us to a better place and shows us our best self.
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