http://www.npr.org/2012/11/19/164814269/anne-lamott-distills-prayer-into-help-thanks-wow [I see so many titles at amazon.com by this same Anne Lamott; pun on "le mot" (the Word)?]
This author interview provokes thought and fits nicely with yesterday's finale in the 5 part sermon series about prayer at our church, fccsj.com
In order to make some of the sermon ideas real and to personalize them in practical habits, a set of small groups met on different days and times so that as many who wanted to participate could do so conveniently. From this repeated experience of guided prayer, conversation, reflection, readings and singing, I could understand the simple message about prayer "anytime, anywhere, and for any reason." So instead of waiting to be prompted at a formal dinner setting by the host, or invited to Be in a Spirit of Prayer during the service of worship, now I find myself at unexpected times thinking to myself, "this merits prayer," right here, right now; without any ado. Slowly the feeling of an appetite or hunger for prayer has emerged so that I "need" a moment to give thanks, offer up praise, or just think 'wow'. This sort of grateful and mindful heart adds a lot to the day.
Imagine a daily experience that is topsy-turvey, such that most of your moment to moment thinking is an extended prayer or prayer-like care for events around you and the people you interact with. By contrast, only a couple moment would be the altered state of consciousness lacking this prayerful mindset; using the consumer worldview for a moment before going back to the "normal" perspective of prayer-in-motion. One's life *as a lived prayer*. How different the day would look and the priorities appear when taken in this way.
Truth/beauty as well as Holiness have come up again and again in the course of the sermon series, either directly or indirectly. This hearkens back to the observation I made as a stranger in a strange land this past summer teaching a short-course in westernmost China. Seeing the daily rush and rumble of life in the capital of Urumqi and the many people of the 13 ethnic groups there, I wondered what it is beyond the survival needs and social obligations being fulfilled that ultimately motivates a person, no matter the age, gender, economic condition or social status. The two things that floated to the top of my mind were a hunger for respect [peer-source] and a love of beauty, whether if comes from pleasing sounds, sights, tastes, smells or 'atmosphere' one inhabits. Perhaps these two hungers we want to satisfy day by day really amount to the divine; a love of the Creator, who is composed of pure respect + beauty/truth/justice/mercy/power.
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