I had a remarkable experience the other day. I was walking to work, thinking about various friends and family members, saying a simple prayer for each. As I walked and prayed, I realized I had gone down to the river, the Idea River, in my prayers. The supplications had expanded from a simple request to picturing the person I was praying for at the moment, talking to the person, expressing my hopes, and concerns and wishes for his or her situation. In the past when that would have happened, I would have said, “Oh brother. Mind wandering again. Get back to praying.” But now, I’m wondering if the praying was, in fact, continuing. What excited me and rang true in those moments was the close relationship and even similarity between prayer and creativity, and the possibility that a prayer can be more than a simple, “God bless mom,” or whoever you’re praying for at the moment.
I’m going to start paying attention when my mind “wanders” during prayer. Maybe a prayer can include images of who or what I’m praying for, feelings of worry or concern or anger connected to the pictures in my mind, and even resolutions or if not that, at least actions I could take or suggest for the subject of my prayers. I’m also going to write them down on little pieces of real or cyber-paper and tuck them into the wall of my journal, or this blog, knowing that God is and hears and responds.
Prayer as creativity? Creativity as prayer? Writing (or even literary living) as piety? Could it be?
