Praying with Our Hands: 21 Practices of Embodied Prayer from the World's Spiritual Traditions
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A spiritual guidebook for bringing prayer into our bodies
The power of words is nowhere more evident than when we use them to pray, but prayer is also the place where we most often come up against the limitations of words. In this intriguing book of reflections and accompanying photographs, we see how our bodies, in particular our hands, can give meaning to our prayers in a way that words alone cannot.
Here are twenty-one simple ways of using our hands to speak to God, presented in word and image. These spiritual practices are from a broad range of religious traditions—from Anglican to Sufi, from Buddhist to Shaker. Some may be familiar, some new; all demonstrate the universal importance people of all faith traditions have given to embodied prayer. They teach us to experience the unique spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pray with our hands.
Jon M. Sweeney
Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar, critic, and writer. A former editor at Jewish Lights and Ave Maria Press, he lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
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Praying with Our Hands - Jon M. Sweeney
Praying with Our Hands
21 PRACTICES OF EMBODIED PRAYER FROM THE WORLD’S
SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS
JON M. SWEENEY
photographs by
JENNIFER J. WILSON
foreword by
MOTHER TESSA BIELECKI
afterword by
TAITETSU UNNO, PH.D.
Walking Together, Finding the Way
SKYLIGHT PATHS PUBLISHING
Woodstock, Vermont
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For my grandmother,
CLELIA BOSETTI SWEENEY
(1913-1997)
who prayed for me each day.
And for Danelle, my love.
Contents
Foreword by Mother Tessa Bielecki
Acknowledgments
Introduction: How Do We Pray with Our Hands?
ALL OF LIFE IS SACRED IF WE KNOW THAT GOD IS PRESENT
Work as Prayer
HOLINESS IS RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES
Welcoming the Sabbath
HUNGERING FOR GOD
Accepting the Holy Eucharist
WHEN WE FIND OUR CENTER, WE FIND GOD
Welcoming the Deity
RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT OVER TIME
Table Grace
WE ARE DIVINE AGENTS IN THE WORLD
Resisting Evil
ADORING THE DIVINE CLOSE AT HAND
Praying with Icons
TRUE FREEDOM COMES FROM LETTING GO
The Cosmic Mudra
WE ARE EXPRESSIONS OF GOD TO EACH OTHER IN COMMUNITY
Laying on of Hands
YEARNING FOR THE ONE WHOM WE CANNOT SEE OR TOUCH
Dancing with God
SHARING GOD’S GOODNESS
Breaking Bread
LINKING TO THE DIVINE
Counting Prayers
OUR BODIES ARE SANCTUARIES FOR GOD
Daily Honor
HUMILITY REQUIRES PRACTICE
Foot Washing
SEPARATENESS IS AN ILLUSION
Showing Compassion
SETTING ASIDE SACRED SPACE
Making an Altar
REVERENCE CAN BEGIN WITH THE HANDS AND TRAIN THE HEART
The Sign of the Cross
AN ENGAGED SPIRIT CANNOT HELP BUT SHOW ITSELF
Practicing Lovingkindness
GOD MAY COME AT ANY TIME
Receiving the Spirit
CONSECRATING OURSELVES
Holy Water
RECONCILIATION WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WITH GOD
Passing the Peace
CONCLUSION
Embodied Prayer Is an Expression of Who We Really Are
Afterword by Taitetsu Unno, Ph.D.
Photographer’s Notes
Source Notes
About the Author
Copyright
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Foreword
In a series of mystical poems, St. John of the Cross describes Christmas as a wedding: the wedding of God and matter, Divine and human, spirit and flesh. The Romances are nowhere near as sublime as John of the Cross’s other poetry, but they give us great insight into the role of the body in spiritual practice. And they introduce us to the great mystery known as spiritual marriage or bridal mysticism. Through the poetry of the Romances, St. John gives us a whole new image of Christmas. Jesus emerges from his mother’s womb not as a helpless baby but as an erotic bridegroom, and the celebration of Christmas becomes a wedding feast, the consummation of a marriage.
Throughout the history of Christianity and other traditions as well, as author Jon Sweeney notes, some have crudely separated the bride and groom and attempted to divorce matter from spirit, body from soul, earth from heaven, as though one were evil and the other good. It is important to remember that