Cosmic Prayer

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.  Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, . .    Psalm  96:12-13a  NIV

All Creation – “Genuine prayer is an event in which man surpasses himself.  Man hardly comprehends what is coming to pass.  Its beginning lies on this side of the word, but the end lies beyond all words.  What is happening is not always brought about by the power of man.  At times all we do is to utter a word with all our heart, yet it is as if we lifted up a whole world.  It is as if someone unsuspectingly pressed a button and a gigantic wheel-work stormily and surprisingly set in motion.  We do not turn the light of prayer on and off at will, as we control sober speculation; we are seized by the overwhelming spell of its grandeur.  It is amazement, not understanding; awe, not reasoning; a challenge, a sweep of emotion, the tide of the spirit, a claim on our wills by the living will of God.”[1]

Need we say more?  Have you experienced those moments when somehow you are swept away on the deep blue wave of the cosmos?  When God’s utter reality floods your very being until you’re breathing angel dust?  Prayer is deified transportation.  But not on the rails you choose.  When the trees sing and the mountains clap their hands, you’re in a different world.

Perhaps because such an experience is so rare we settle for pedestrian compromise.  Our prayers barely reach beyond the ceiling because we don’t expect to encounter the cosmos.  We just want a little ordinary human help.  Our sights are set low so we can’t be blinded by the heavenly throne.  But maybe we should think of prayer like this:

A shuttered opening to the cosmos.

Topical Index: prayer, creation, awe, Psalm 96:12-13a

[1] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), pp. 204-205.