Prayer is the expression of a new life, a life of “adoption”
or “filiation”.
Benjamin Crowe has been discussing how prayer is
phenomenological and how the text interpretation of what prayer is without a
doubt of great importance. The above quote from his section in the book stuck
out to me for a variety of reasons. The concept of prayer being an expression
(making known one’s thoughts or feelings) was so profound to me. It
acknowledges that the one praying is free to have thoughts and opinions and
freely speak them to whoever they are praying to. As a Christian that is what
prayer is about – freedom of expression; having the ability to communicate,
have opinions, feelings and own them without fear of condemnation. An
expression is something we have to convey the innermost feelings we carry and
to relate that to something as sacred as prayer is intriguing.
The latter part of the above quote from Crowe, “… a new
life, a life of “adoption” or ‘filiation’”, also speaks volumes as to the
sanctity and importance of prayer. Prayer seems to be the prerequisite to a new
life much like removing ourselves from the marketplace – we are well on the way
to understanding our project (our new life). The use of the word adoption and
filiation are vital here as well. In Christian thought it is taught that were
adopted as the sons and daughters of God. And with that adoption we are to take
on the new life, a life that resembles that of the one who adopted us. When a child
is adopted they take on the characteristics of their new family – essentially a
whole new life.
As I think more critically about prayer being an expression
(open communication of my feeling, emotions and thoughts) of my adoption into
Gods family I can’t help but to view prayer as more of strong component of my
faith. and how effective it has been throughout my entire spiritual journey! That is pretty awesome!
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