Most people think of prayer as a solitary act performed on one's knees; but another, more enduring form expresses itself in an ongoing dialogue that includes God in the musings and broodings of simple thinking. Whether one believes in God or not, when we feel there is nowhere else to turn, the object of what one author called our creative brooding sometimes becomes God.
While tragedies regularly occur in various parts of the world resulting in huge loss of life, few have touched us as profoundly as the tsunami that slammed into Southeast Asia. For those caught in the terror of the moment, their prayer was in all likelihood a request for help; for those able to observe from a comfortable distance, their prayer was more likely "why?"
Feelings of helplessness and confusion are often part of the human experience and we are not very comfortable with either. The spiritual stories of all the major religions are filled with images of deliverance and revelation –the "Chosen People" are led to the "promised land" by pillars of cloud and fire; a holy man sits under a tree and is enlightened.
Great thinkers down through the ages have encouraged us to see this time of waiting as a good thing. Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching, suggested, "Are you able to sit still and wait for your mud to settle?" Huang-po, a ninth century Chinese Zen Master spoke about wisdom saying, "Chase it and it eludes you; run from it and it is always there." The Psalmist said, "Be still and know that I am God." Unfortunately, we often see the reality of waiting as an accommodation by default –a necessary evil. We have no choice, so we wait.
So much of our lives are spent reacting and responding to superficial impressions and desires; so much of our suffering is a result of neglecting due diligence. Simply put, we don't pray. We don't dialogue with ourselves or with God. We don't slow down and ask questions. We receive no end of encouragement from popular culture to solve our angst through taking something, doing something, or changing something. In the age of the microwave, microcomputer and cell phone, we are not fond of waiting for much of anything.
Value exists in confusion. It was in "sitting in the dust heap" thinking and praying and being bewildered that Job eventually found his answers. Sometimes an ash pit is just an ash pit; at other times it is the hearth from which the phoenix rises... "as the sparks fly upward."
Sometimes the best we can do is wait and, in the waiting, muse and brood to ourselves or out loud. Some call it reflection or conversation; people of faith call it prayer. While counselors and pastors do provide information helpful in finding spiritual answers, as often as not, it is about the conversation –being a part of the listening and questioning and waiting. For people of faith, God occupies a significant horizon in that conversation and is the source of hope and strength; but either way, we wait, and in the waiting we become.
I read recently that the average person will spend seven years of his or her life waiting in line. One way or another, we all get religion!
