(Not So) Silent Prayer

Last Sunday morning in church the pastor finished the listing of prayer concerns and then said that we would have a time of silent prayer to start the prayers. Nothing unusual since that is the way she starts the prayers every week.

So silence descended on the sanctuary. Sort of.

The little children (yes, the ones Jesus said should come to him) are not all that tuned to such words from the pulpit. After all they are not aimed at them. Those are adult things going on. They have more important things to do- like talk, and sing to themselves and noisily push their big brother.

I smiled and an old Biblical idea came to mind- speaking in tongues. The sounds of joy and play and mischief and wonder at life was what it sounded like to me at that moment. I am sure there were people in the church who didn't like the noise, including some of the parents. I have been there at times, too. Yet to me on that morning it wasn't not a distraction. It was the sound of another type of prayer, the life of the community sharing life.

Then by non-coincidence I am sure I came across this quote from author Kathleen Norris in her book, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith.

Prayer is not doing, but being. It is not words but the beyond-words experience of coming into the presence of something much greater than oneself. It is an invitation to recognize holiness, and to utter simple words—”Holy, Holy, Holy”—in response. Attentiveness is all; I sometimes think of prayer as a certain quality of attention that comes upon me when I’m busy doing something else.

What a great way to describe what was happening in that not so silent prayer time. Attentiveness to the way of God around us.