Posted by
Zentrist on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:38:59 PM
As a nation now, we've gone out on a limb, once again. The audacity of President Obama is utterly unprecedented. The intellectuals and the masses alike are beginning to wonder. In his inaugural address, our prez invited us to remember the Revolution. That image of the "blood in the snow" invites us all to go back even further, to Jamestown. We were, originally, people of faith. Not run-of-the-mill believers, but exceptionally pious zealots, almost. Some of the Puritans, I've read, believed that the Word spoke directly to their hearts in a very unique way. And American Exceptionalism was born.
We are different.
We are, it appears now, tragically different.
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My hope and prayer is that this "appearance" does not turn out to be the Reality. In Townhall.com today, we find Tony Blankley speculating about the "what ifs." His article implies that Obama has taken us out on an extremely dangerous journey, putting at risk not only his own career but the world's, I repeat, the world's financial health. We now have what could be a calamity in the making. To be fair, this impending doom was not of Obama's making. History might show, someday, that the disaster was "bound to happen" due to events already underway prior to the fall of 2008 or the winter of 2009. It may quote the line from the Inaugural Address about "our collective failures."
But most of us, today, can do little but pray. I really appreciated so many of the Townhall articles I've read thus far: Shapiro, Parker, Murchison, Gerson, Williams, Blankley, Stossel...I'm looking forward to Larry King tonight. President Bill Clinton will be on, again, after an appearance not three weeks ago. At that time, he offered his support to Obama and Company. President Jimmy Carter, too, has been very helpful in this way. Yesterday, the signs were much more encouraging. In any event, Mr. Tabor's article on prayer seems especially timely.
The definition of prayer I like the best is Mother Angelica's, "ad-libbing with God." Our Fathers and Hail Marys are good; but the intimacy of just opening up and asking the Lord, point blank, What am I supposed to do? works best if done in a state of grace. I've grown to dislike intensely the long-winded "spontaneous" prayers of individuals who invite you and everyone at the table to hold hands. The puritan in me resists.
The traditions of prayer probably go back some ten thousand years. The Hindu Scriptures, I'm told, are some six thousand years old. Oral traditions probably take us back to so-called "pre-historic" times. The Hebrew Oral Traditions and Written Scriptures combined...these of course go back thousands of years. Prior to my reversion to the faith of my youth, I experimented with some of these ancient traditions of prayer. Some of these, today, have names: Transcendental Meditation; the Buddhist "walking prayer"; the Hindu mantras and "aspirations"; the daylong prayers; the daylong meditations; fasting (I went 28 days with only distilled water--do not try at home).
When asked about his prayer life, in an interview (published as "God and the World"), our Holy Father said that he starts each day with "a few" set prayers (meaning, I'd guess, perhaps the Apostle's Creed--see Ratzinger's amazing book, "Introduction to Christianity"). Benedict (not yet Benedict) at that time, around the year 2000, admitted that he usually does not say the entire rosary, but only "perhaps a decade." He confessed that his mind is restless with, as I recall, the business at hand. These days, I think, our Holy Father is probably saying the entire rosary. I have to confess: I don't say the rosary very often.
Father John Corapi, a living saint in my opinion, a saint like Saint Augustine in certain ways, says that the rosary contains "the entire Gospel." On this and other challenging spiritual insights, Google John Corapi or tune in to EWTN, Eternal Word Television Network.
The public prayer offered by Pastor Rick Warren at the Inauguration was one of the most beautiful and stirring prayers I've ever heard.
The well-known Jesus Prayer, about which a gripping spiritual classic or two has been written, goes like this: "Oh Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." That's it.
But that's not it. According to one of the spiritual books mentioned above (was it titled, "A Pilgrim's Prayer"?), abundant living, countless special graces "accrue" to one who chants internally as it were--the Jesus Prayer ALL DAY LONG. Think about it. Think of all the things you WOULD NOT BE THINKING ABOUT.
And just what is this Hail Mary that the great athlete, citizen and human being, Roger Staubach, made even more famous? "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen."
Centering Prayer. This "new fad" actually goes back to Early Christianity and some of the Fathers. It was brought back by Thomas Merton and Basil Pennington, Cistercian monks both. Actually, the basic structure of the prayer is ecumenical in the sense that it goes back several thousand years. It is quite possible that Jesus himself practiced a version of this prayer when he went "up to the mountain to pray" for forty days and forty nights. I've not read his new book yet, but Deepak Chopra knows a good deal about the traditions, or one tradition, that, in all probability, ground this prayer. I've also studied aspects of this tradition. One branch of this "school" is the Transcendental Meditation that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought to the United States in the fifties and sixties, etc. Nor was he the only swami to come over with this ancient prayer tradition. Swami Vivekenanda came to the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago (1893). His speech there is still being talked about to this day. After overcoming some serious stage fright, he proceeded to "blow away" the crowd. His teacher, a nineteenth-century saint among Hindus, is considered a reincarnation of Krishna Himself. Today in India, a certain Sai Baba may still be alive. He, too, is considered a living saint, much as was our Western world's Padre Pio of Italy (died in 1968). I should mention that the reputation in India of men like Swami Vivekenanda is right up there or beyond Gandhi's reputation. At least, this is what I've read. Another great Indian-born guru who taught prayer extensively in America was the author of a best-seller, "The Autobiography of a Yogi." He founded here an institution called Self-Realization. As far as I know, it is still around, still teaching--probably it comes up on Google. I would not waste my time or yours on this if I did not believe that this "tradition of prayer" has some value. These are not kooks. They are authentic holy men and women. If you don't believe me, I am told, go to India and visit some of the holy places.
My experimentation with other prayer traditions never led me as far as the book I now have on my desk, just to round out this presentation ("The Holy Science" by Swami Sri Yukteswar, 1855-1936, Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, 1984). Part of me still feels reverence for this great Hindu Tradition. (Especially inasmuch as, in all probability, Jewish prophets had come to know parts of it.) Here is a revealing quotation from the book jacket: "Prophets of all lands and ages have succeeded in their God-quest," writes Paramahansa Yogananda in the foreward to THE HOLY SCIENCE. "Entering a state of true illumination , nirbikalpa samadhi, these saints have realized the Supreme Reality behind all names and forms. Their wisdom and spiritual counsel have become the scriptures of the world. These, although outwardly different by reason of the variegated cloaks of words, are all expressions--some open and clear, others hidden or symbolic--of the same basic truths of Spirit."
Well, all of this experimentation with oriental prayer traditions finally led me back, and then back again and again--to AA. The Third Step of AA reads: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." Now, let's jump to the Eleventh Step: "Sought through prayer and meditation to increase our conscious contact with God, praying only for the knowledge of His will for us, and the power to carry it out."
As I said, my own soul-searching in the school of hard knocks led me back, finally, to the faith of my youth. It is a faith that encourages, obviously, a lot of study, a great deal of serious spiritual reading, for example, one of our Holy Father's favorites, "The Confessions" of Saint Augustine. (Don't take my word for it; read his Memoir, "Milestones," for his own words about the impact of Augustine.) Off the top of my head, I'd also recommend as prompts to prayer the following: our Holy Father's "The Spirit of Liturgy" and "The Salt of the Earth"; Saint Therese of Lisieux's classic "The Story of a Soul"; "Christ is Passing By," homilies by (now) Saint Josemaria Escriva, Sinag-Tala Publishers, 1974, Manila.
Finally, I am not responsible for any heart attacks caused by this rambling excursion into "new age" thinking and its (serious) prayer traditions. The fault lies solely with Kathleen Parker, who not too long ago wrote an article partly about the impact of Karma on Dick Cheney. You see, even the conventions of contemporary American usage owe something to these practices of the millenia. I'm old enough to remember Johnny Carson, on the West Coast, of course, doing a parody of the guru called "Karmac the Magnificent" or somesuch. I can still see him and Ed McMahon stifling their Inner Joy. Expressing it, rather.
Finally again, it was altogether fitting and proper that Obama's first photo-op after becoming prez was at a green company called, you guessed it, Namaste.