C3/CCC Sermon Transcript for August 24, 2008 Namaste. The spark of God in me greets the spark of God in you. This spark resides deep within you, beyond your defenses and deeper than the worries and pretence of the ego can penetrate; unbreakable in the face of sickness and unshakeable in the face of fear. Way down in the centre of your being and in the heart of life itself, this spark is a light so radiant that the ego melts in its presence. Come with me to that place and discover the spontaneous and blissful state of prayer. Today I want to think out loud with you about prayer. The question that I am asked more than any other is about the place of prayer in progressive religion. Even for those would say intellectually that it doesn’t make sense for a God to answer individual daily prayers when in the same day millions of people around the world suffer and die, there is still an emotional longing for the assurance of prayer. Maybe you feel this longing. I resonate with it. There are many different perspectives on prayer. Some believe that a supernatural God can and will answer personal prayers. Some believe that this sort of prayer for divine intervention is superstitious, not unlike a four leafed clover, a rabbit’s foot or squeezing a goat’s testicle. (now there’s an image!) Some believe that prayer has a quantum effect; with your thoughts bringing healing energy to another person. This view doesn’t depend on any particular understanding of God. It’s all in the power of the thoughts. Some think that prayer is just about changing the person praying, to focus their thoughts. Some believe that prayer has no effect whatsoever. Maybe there are other perspectives I have left out. I don’t have any absolute answers this morning, or any morning, but I know this for sure. Several times a week different people ask me to pray for them. I know exactly what they mean, and I do what they ask. I pray. By this I mean, I take time to offer them my compassion by way of focused attention. I don’t give much thought to whether it has any magical effect. I just do it. When I gather around a hospital bed and pray with a family, it is completely natural and a very beautiful experience. The prayer has little to do with outcomes, and is all about focusing attention on positive memories, and compassionate thoughts. Does the prayer have some magical qualities? I have no idea. Who could say? Rather than ask the question, “Does prayer work?”, I want to ask the question, “Is prayer good for your health?” It might be helpful to begin by defining prayer and health. What is prayer? Prayer is focused attention. It may involve words, but is often better without words. Is prayer the same as meditation? Probably. It’s certainly very similar. Prayer is self awareness that focuses positive and compassionate thoughts on yourself, on others and on the whole world. Prayer is also impatient and confused at times, like the Psalmists or Job in the Old Testament. If your awareness is on an injustice, then your prayer will be indignant. Prayer is focused attention on whatever is in your field of awareness. What is health? Health is not the absence of sickness. Health is the presence of wellbeing, even in the face of sickness. Your wellbeing is not defined by sickness, no matter whether it’s chronic illness or even life threatening. Your health is defined by how you feel about yourself and about life when you do as Jesus suggested, and close the door to your room and shut all the expectations and pressures out. We all know people who have wellbeing, even at the end of long battle with illness. Karen Wolfis died a year ago. Even when her body was almost completely overtaken by cancer, Karen knew wellbeing because she was at peace about her life and with her family. Who could ever forget Gary Beyer at the end of his life? Could there be a better example of a person who knew wellbeing in the face of unthinkable hardship. Gary and I prayed towards the end of his life, when his disease had taken away his ability to speak and use his hands. He had to spell out his prayer by nodding when we pointed to letters on a chart. He spelled out the word “love”. His heart was full of love and joy. Who could forget Randy Pausch, who died just a month ago? Randy gave a famous last lecture in 2007 after being given 6 months to live. In his last lecture, he said, "I don't know how to not have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there's no other way to play it." Randy’s last lecture was his prayer. Check it out. http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/ Praying Even If It Doesn’t Work During the week, I had a head cold. It wasn’t particularly bad. Sympathy is unnecessary, but will be gladly accepted. I don’t get sick often, but when I do I like to milk it for all its worth. Here are some of the thoughts that went through my mind. “Not now.” “This is not a good time.” “I don’t want to miss yoga tomorrow.” “I refuse to be sick.” “I am going to beat this.” So I set about conquering the cold. I took a steam bath so hot that I nearly gave myself third degree burns. I poured so much salt water through my sinuses that I almost drowned. I drank so much fresh vegetable juice that my skin turned orange. Medication? Get behind me Satan. I would have to see limbs falling off before my male pride would let me medicate. They all seem like reasonable, if obsessive, things to do. I have absolutely no evidence that any of them can shorten the life of a head cold. Maybe they can alleviate the symptoms, but not cure the cold. Maybe that’s what prayer is like. It may not work miracles, but it sure can make you feel better. Taking Suffering Personally I find sickness to be very inconvenient and a little personally offensive. It offends my false belief that I am unbreakable and impermanent. So conquering the cold was a matter of pride for me. After blitzing my cold with hot baths and fresh juice, I went to bed that night feeling very self righteous. When I woke up in the morning, I felt WORSE and the fact that I had failed to conquer the cold made me feel even more rotten. My head hurt and my pride ached. The cold was going to take its own course. I didn’t need to add my own egoic torture to the mix. The same is true for prayer, however you understand it. If you take suffering personally, then your prayer, and your recovery, is likely to be full of ego and will compound your suffering. Prayer and Health So is prayer good for your health? Lets start with some research on intercessory prayer. Prayer and Pregnancy In 2001, one of America’s most respected medical journals (The Journal of Reproductive Medicine) published findings of a study that suggested that intercessory prayer did assist the subjects in getting pregnant. The study involved over 200 women in a four month in vitro fertilization process in Korea. Half the women were prayed for by people all over the world, and they were unaware of the prayers. The women who were prayed for had twice the success in getting pregnant as those who were not prayed for. The odds that pure chance could explain the pregnancies were less than 13 out of 10,000. This is extraordinary. The conditions of the study were rigorous; double blind and independently collated. The other strength of the study is that it is very clear cut if you are pregnant. It’s not like a cancer that may go into remission or illnesses with unknown long terms affects. You are either pregnant or not. It was an impressive study, but not without its critics. It seemed to point to the power of prayer, but was in no way conclusive. Prayer and Heart Surgery A more recent study, published in 2006 and conducted by the Templeton Foundation centered on patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. There were three groups of patients; those who didn’t know they were being prayed for, those who didn’t know they weren’t being prayed for, and those who did know they were being prayed for. The first two groups had the same results. The third group, the ones who knew they were being prayed for, had significantly worse outcomes. This study seemed to suggest that prayer could be bad for your health. This type of research has gone back and forth over the last few decades, and is inconclusive. It’s interesting, but not altogether helpful for our discussion this morning. Who Are You Praying to? There is a variable factor that none of the research or studies can adequately address. Does it matter who you pray to, or if you pray to anyone in particular? The question of who you are praying to is a question that goes beyond science. It is a matter of personal belief, or I might say a matter of archetypal language. It makes the whole field of intercessory prayer research highly questionable. As George Carlin once said, capturing the skepticism that you also may be feeling- “You know who I pray to? Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci. Two reasons; first of all, I think he's a good actor. Okay. To me, that counts. Second; he looks like a guy who can get things done. Joe Pesci doesn't mess around. In fact, Joe Pesci came through on a couple of things that God was having trouble with. For years I asked God to do something about my noisy neighbor with the barking dog. Joe Pesci straightened that guy out with one visit. Don’t get hung up on praying to a particular name for God. Offer your prayers as focused attention and let go of your expectations for particular outcomes. Prayer may be good for your health, but research into intercessory prayer does not prove that. Prayer as Focused Attention There is another strand of scientific research that is much more helpful. It is research that shows that those who meditate or do yoga (or pray according to Jesus’ model of going to secret places within) actually alter the make up of their brain. Two different things seem to happen
So prayer could be good for your health, in terms of keeping you calm and increasing your mindfulness. Prayer may improve your sleep, enhance your memory and decision making, and yes even increase your libido. This research seems to be more conclusive than the speculative intercessory prayer studies. I remain cautiously optimistic. I know that when I spent 25 hours on vacation doing yoga, that my well being was enhanced enormously. There seems to be reason to continue, or resume, a prayer life. It could well be good for your health. What might it look like? Prayer as Deepest Longings Consider your prayer your deepest longings. Prayer is best done in secret because it is often raw and primal. It is often unreasonable and needs to be spoken in some form to find resolution. Homer Simpson once prayed- "God, if you really are a God, you'll get me tickets to that football game." Right away the doorbell rings and there is Ned Flanders: "Heidey-ho neighbor, want to go to the game with me? I've got two tickets." Homer slams the door. He could think of nothing worse than going to the game with Ned Flanders. He says: "Why do you mock me O Lord?" Your prayers are your words or thoughts in raw form. Allow them, even those you are not proud of. Prayer as Relationship Once you allow your primal thoughts expression, you will find that your highest aspirations will soon follow. Use your prayer, with words or not, to express your highest purpose. Elizabeth Gilbert wrote this in Eat Pray Love- "Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I'm aiming for, how will it ever occur? Half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention. If you don't have this, all your pleas and desires are boneless, floppy, inert; they swirl at your feet in a cold fog and never lift." Prayer is Paying Attention Practice prayer by practicing mindfulness. This form of prayer can be done anywhere and at any time. It doesn’t require words, just awareness. Listen to these words from Mary Oliver in her poem "The Summer Day": Prayer Combined With Action Prayer that is passive can be bad for your health. Consider this story about a man whose town was hit by a flood. The man stood at the front doorstep of his house as a neighbor came by in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and said, "Come on, let's get out of here before we're stranded." The man answered, "No, go ahead. I'm praying for God to rescue me." Prayer is a process of aligning your deepest longings with your common sense, connecting mindfully with your environment, and taking responsibility for your own life. Prayer for Wellbeing Let me end with a prayer for wellbeing. Repeat it a line at a time as a mantra- I deserve wellbeing. I forgive myself. I choose wholeness.
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