Prayers are not recipes or formulae, they are love poems. They need not be factual, but they must be true.
I originally came across ‘Beginner’s Grace’ while working as a chaplain intern at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City. I had found myself at a loss as to how to best pray with my Christian patients. It was a confusing experience for me, as I’d considered myself to be very comfortable with the prayer practices of my own Buddhist tradition. Consequently, I began to search for resources that might help me to break down some of the ‘mechanics’ of Christian prayer. I was uncertain how to initially engage in Christian prayer; should I begin with lord or God?, how should I conclude?, how much religious scripture was expected ‘in between’. Ultimately, I felt confused and uncertain about Christian prayer.
It was at this time that I came upon ‘Beginner’s Grace’, and Braestrup’s compelling statement that a “chaplain doesn’t have a leisurely hour in which to explain God. The suffering is right there, and its urgency demands an immediate response.” Braestrup, who is a chaplain to the Maine forest service and a protestant minister, certainly approaches the whole 'prayer thing' with humor, yet she also has an uncanny ability to offer piercing insights: “We don’t give a lot of sermons out in the field or in the woods or streets. Instead, we are called upon to offer the spiritual equivalent of triage. We’re asked to pray.”
Braestrup provided enthusiastic encouragement to make praying meaningful and satisfying. With a light heart and down to earth presentations,
My initial impressions of ‘Beginner’s Grace’ were very positive. I enjoyed Braestrup’s enthusiasm and ability to maintain light, down to earth presentations when offer...
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your observations that when we grieve over what we ‘feel’ we’ve lost, our loss becomes a
constant undertone of our very identity and our experience of reality; an experience that can
indeed become very dangerous.
Your experience of sorrow this past year may well be a
great teacher, and that’s the point, because within your sorrow there’s a wealth of advice
and wisdom just waiting to be tapped into! Your job now is to find that wealth, otherwise
you’ll just be unhappy, and that unhappiness will undermine not only your enjoyment of life,
but also the whole potential of your life.
deeply touched my heart. Had she approached the situation in the prison with rigidity she would have stuck to her pre-prepared prayers, but unlike a like a prepared frozen diner, one size does not fit all.
While safe and easy – it wouldn’t have been poetry.
Wilson, Barbara S., Arlene Flancher, and Susan T. Erdey. The Episcopal Handbook. New York, NY: Morehouse Pub., 2008. Print.
talks about the importance of sincere prayer as well. He talks of faith and forgivness, all of
E.M. Bounds wrote a wonderful book devoted to prayer entitled Power Through Prayer. This book encourages the preacher to become a true prayer warrior. E.M. Bounds has written many books on prayer, encouraging Christians to devote their life to prayer. Since the writer is coming from a preacher background himself, one can clearly see the passion he has for prayer in his life. Fellow preachers will hopefully be encouraged by this and want to devote their life to prayer, so that they will better their preaching. Bounds exemplifies through his work that preaching has no power without prayer. He also sets forth the idea that prayer is the life-giving force behind our work for God. In reading this book, it inspires one to pray more and be able to be more effective in their ministry.
It is common for those experiencing grief to deny the death altogether. Many people do this by avoiding situations and places that remind them of the deceased (Leming & Dickinson, 2016). However, by simply avoiding the topic of death and pain, the mourner only achieves temporary relief while in turn creating more permanent lasting agony (Rich, 2005). In this stage, mourners will begin to feel the full weight of the circumstance. Whether the death of a loved one was sudden or long-term, survivors will feel a full range of emotions, such as sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, hopelessness, or grief. While many of these emotions can cause serious suffering, it is important for the survivor to feel whatever emotions come up and deal with those feelings, rather than trying to suppress any
The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science Tells Us about Life after Loss, written by George A. Bonanno, illustrates the ways in which different people deal with loss in different ways and even so, most of us are resilient to loss. Death is an inevitable phase every person must face. Throughout one’s life, everybody is destined to confront the pain of death in his or her lifetime. But how do we cope? Is there a “correct” or “normal” way, or length of time we are supposed to use, to recover after a major loss? Bonanno delves into the ways in which we deal with grief and loss that are contrary to what people generally presume. We may be surprised, even hurt, by a loss, but we still manage to pull ourselves back together and move on. One of the recurring arguments made in The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science Tells Us about Life after Loss is that resilience after loss is real, prevailing, and enduring. Bonanno is able to provide much compelling evidence to show the different patterns or trajectories of grief reactions across time shown by bereaved people. He also explains thoroughly how grief is not work by elucidating the ways emotions work to help us deal with demanding environments. Bonanno is successful in allowing the readers to be conscious of what people are grieving after a major loss – they don’t grieve facts, they grieve what they remember. In addition, Bonanno explains how death elicits both terror and curiosity to help his readers conceptualize death. Bonanno essentially articulates that resilience is both genuine and lasting because it is in our human capacity to thrive in the face of adversity.
In the book A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, Madame Guyon touches on how one can accept all things God through prayer. Through the simple steps of meditation and reading accompanied by meditation, Madame Guyon teaches the reader how to use those steps to have a relationship with God. As a person of the Quietism faith in the seventeenth century, Madam Guyon was going against the norm of the church structure. Not only was she advocating people did not need to go to weekly services, but she was also going against the male’s leaders of the church. One of the questions this book can help historians to answer is how religion shaped everyday life. However, the readers need to keep in mind the biases surrounding this book. This is just one of the many religious books of the seventeenth century and viewing the book from a 21nd mindset. Madame Guyon was one of the few female religious leaders in the seventeenth century France.
The cornerstone of any relationship with someone is the ideal of grace and mercy. When grace is absent, dealing with people becomes difficult we develop issues with trust. Grace involves hoping that God is listening and will answer all prayers in ways according to His will. Digging into the cross of hope and prayer, this paper discusses the theological definition, biblical foundation, and practical application in order to identify how the two connect. These principles have helped me learn what it means to be a Christian.
Within a community’s network of healing, spiritual health is connected to psychological and emotional health. Father Jim discussed that, as a priest, he finds a person’s spiritual life can affect his/her psychological and emotional state. That is, individuals with troubles in their spiritual lives often suffer psychologically and em...
The human experience is what connects people to one another. What we experience defines who we are and who we become. It also defines how we interact with others. The amazing thing is that not only do the events that bring joy, peace and happiness connect us but also those that bring anxiety, fear and despair. This brings to light the fact that God somehow in his sovereignty uses all things for the good of those who love Him. These ideas are brought to light in Jerry Sittser’s book, A Grace Disguised which is his personal journey of loss and the insight and experience that was gained in the face of great tragedy. In his book, Sittser discusses various insights he has gained, such as how Christian’s view sorrow, how families recover when someone they love develops a mental disorder, and the Christian view on suffering and forgiveness. I believe that the author has written a book that has many universal truths that can be applied to anyone’s life and they have the ability to bring healing to many. His ideas can also aid professionals who work with the mentally ill in becoming more compassionate.
From society to family to media, external influences never seem to disappear from everyday life. These outward forces tend to leave a lasting impression on us for as long as we live. Because they are so prevalent in our daily lives, exterior factors will have a significant influence on us, specifically our sense of self and happiness. When defining our sense of self, it eventually comes down to how we interpret our individual self-image. In most cases, we do not truly know who we are from our own mindset. Therefore, we take into account the reactions that those around us have an influence on our actions and decisions. From these external effects, we create the persona of who we are. In his article, Immune to Reality, Daniel Gilbert explains
The speaker in this poem claims that praying follows a “simple form,” because it “keeps things in order” (1.7-8). This can also be said about writing; at least the kind of writing that follows a prescribed formula, such as, the sonnet or the five-paragraph essay. Writers often use these structures, because the methods are established an...
He is doing this solely as a tool for success and does not actually believe in god and wants to disregard religion in prayers
Doctors, nurses and other providers are challenged on a daily basis in an attempt to consider and assimilate their patient’s different religious backgrounds and beliefs. The recent trends and strong indications of religious vitality and diversity present a pressing need to recognize various faith traditions in healthcare ethics (Reimer-Kirkham, Grypma, & Terblanche, 2013). Christianity and Buddhism, two of the most widely practiced religions today, bring their own viewpoints concerning healthcare. These religious beliefs may have similar ideas with regards to illness and healing. However, the differences in health practices and the approach to achieving optimal
Murray, William J. Let Us Pray: A Plea for Prayer in Our Schools. New York: New York, 1995. Print.
Mitchell, Curtis C. 1984. "The case for persistence in prayer." Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 27, no. 2: 161-168. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 16, 2014).