The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
July 25, 2010
Vol. 13 no. 29
When there is a moment of silence at a public event for one who has recently died, is that meant to be prayer? Sort of, but not really. It is a vestige of a more pious era when public prayer was a norm. Silence is universal and if it is “respectful” that satisfies a lowest common denominator for a public moment.
So what is prayer, besides silence? Mention prayer today and the response is either revulsion or a super-pietistic litany on how no one prays anymore. Some people are literally scared of praying, lest they turn into the kind of folk who wish to control the world their way in the name of God.
Even the disciples are unsure what this religious activity of prayer is all about so they ask Jesus for an instruction manual. Jesus answers not with directions, but a particular “Lord’s Prayer.” It stuck and everybody says it. There are millions of other prayers, extemporaneous or written down, intoned all around Christendom every week. Spoken prayers can be literary and poetic, like the Psalms of the Old Testament.
What is not often talked about are the prayers you can’t speak since they are intentionally silent. We have a bare 60 seconds of silent prayer each worship service and many of you have told me it is too short a time. Others I know believe 60 seconds is an eternity of nothing. Silent prayers can be full of words and ideas and pleas not spoken out loud, but in many traditions such prayer tries to free itself from words and thoughts and simply sits in the presence of God. What can you say that God has not already heard? Perhaps God hasn’t heard enough of your silence.
Robert Kitchen
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan