Article November 19, 1984 Issue

A celebration that heals

DAVID L. DEGLER

Generally we celebrate to mark something exceptionally good that has occurred. We can think of prayer as a quiet, inner celebration, marking the appearance of eternal Truth to human consciousness.

Sometimes we think of prayer as "work." But prayer need never be drudgery, for prayer is not a mere personal effort to gain God's favor or bargain with God. Nor do we really pray when we think about God as far-off and labor to get in touch with Him, hoping He will be in a good mood and grant our request. Prayer is so much more than repeating familiar sentences, words, or Bible verses. Neither is prayer reasoning about perfect God and His perfect spiritual creation in a merely intellectual way. Prayer isn't even a mental struggle to force our human consciousness to accept some spiritual fact of being.

Prayer is a heartfelt celebration—a rejoicing, praising, extolling, honoring, of Truth with inner joy and respect. True prayer is inseparable from the outgoing practice of what we understand of God and man.

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A celebration that heals

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