as i traveled down yosemite today, past the busy college parking lot, and the hustle and bustle of the day, i noticed the light dusting of the mountains with snow. last week's snow is still there! i'm dressed in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt! and when i got to the office, there was hustle and bustle here too, but no snow; wha-hoo! i love a useful church building -- busy activity means we are alive!
on my computer desk sets an article from the christian century, a bi-weekly journal to which i subscribe. i've had it setting there for a couple of weeks, just waiting for the perfect opportunity.
so today, hear a little from rodney clapp's 'american soundings; where do you pray?'. clapp shares insight from his three week adventure in egypt, some years ago. egypt is a predominately muslim country. he was talking to a sagacious priest -- i had to look that word up, honestly: meaning possessing/showing sound judgment and keen perception; wise.
this priest suggested the the difference between egypt and america could be summarized in two divergent images. "the image of america is the rocket ship, blasting off into unknown realms, going places no human has been before. america is focused on the future and always looking ahead.
"the imagine of egypt, he isaid, is the pyramids, thousands of years old and still standing in the sands outside cairo. rooted in a deep history, egypt is focused on the past and the importance of tradition."
another difference about america and egypt is our desire for information. for instance, in america, "if we want to know someones church affiliation, we ask the question, 'where do you go to church?' in egypt, people ask, 'where do you pray?'"
on this sunny autumn day surrounded by snow-dusted mountains, when we are encouraged to be 'out and open', with the concern over figuring people out and what box to put them in, in egypt people aske about our spiritual life. the question for me is about the fact that i do pray, not simply go to church.
honestly, as a pastor, i go to church all the time!!! but, where do i pray is a totally different question for me. that question might be a reminder to pray or maybe when was the last time you prayed? or even what have you discerned lately through prayer? when i am in the church building, i pray in the sanctuary, my office (a lot!), in the prayer room -- for centering prayer and other times -- in the choir room and the wesley hall. but when i am out and about, i pray at home, in my car, as i walk. i can pray anywhere; with people or just personally with god.
prayer. do we take time to listen for god in the silence. do we take time to cut through the excessive noise of our world or our minds to hear that still small voice of god? could prayer be in the conversation we're having or the conflict that is distracting us or the trouble/excitement we are invested in in that moment? prayer -- wherever two or more are gathered. we're never alone, even when we are by ourselves.
so, i do get caught up in being american; always looking ahead. but my interest in history also compels me to be a little egyptian; to see where the past informs where i may come out.
coming out in prayer ... seems like the place to be -- historically and presently and in the future. prayer must just be the thing that god has in mind for me today. how about you? where do you pray?
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