Becoming what we Pray
The way the author described prayer at the beginning of the chapter resonated with me. He indicated that prayer involves the integration of passion, suffering, and joy and how those things relate to our moods. As a psychology major, I found this interesting. He likened prayer to a "poetic inspiration" in Plato's sense. This "madness of love and poetic inspiration" is something I have experienced when I pray or meditate. I feel as though I get into a certain state of mind where I don't have to think very much about what to say. The words seem to come to me effortlessly and I find that I think more poetically and passionately when I pray. I understand the experience that the author is describing, and I think he is correct in connecting this to Plato. The author notes that true prayer is passionate in nature. He distinguishes between passionate fear, anger, or grief and wonder, sympathy, and attachment. This means that there is positive and negative passion. I feel as though prayer should always be passionate and sincere, whether it is coming from a place of positive or negative passion. If prayer is not passionate it is phony and insincere. I agree with what the author is saying in this part of the chapter.
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