Brittany's Glosa

The Experience of Prayer 

To pray you open your whole self

To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon

To one whole voice that is you.

And know there is more

“Eagle” by Joy Harjo

Prayer is as much experience as an event,

it flows and fills even the secret parts deep inside.

You cannot be closed off to spirit when you pray;

remember your physical body is not the only body,

remember that when you pray you use all of your being.

Prayer is not something found in a Bible on a shelf

or something you can pretend that you are doing.

In order to truly experience prayer,

you must employ both physical and spiritual self.

To pray you open your whole self

not just the parts that look good to everyone else.

Some think prayer only takes place in church

and that in order to pray there must be present the trinity.

You open yourself up to so much more than theology,

to prescriptions of religion and penance.

You dwell in the ground beneath your feet, the sun at noon,

the natural world and all its elements,

what is found in the intricacies of a spider’s web

and in the haunted call of the loon.

To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon

you call, and you answer when they speak to you.

The languid swirl of burning sweetgrass

carries your prayers up to the Creator,

allows you to communicate with those who have gone before.

You become a part of something deeper;

through prayer you discover what makes I and me, you.

The truth is that you cannot understand who you are

until you experience whole self prayer,

that moment when the one whole voice of nature sings true

To one whole voice that is you.

The first taste of the vastness of prayer

will leave you longing for your next journey.

You will smell your hair for the sweet smoke,

remembering the completeness of the experience.

Prayer is not to be taken lightly,

and it is not something you can ignore;

Each time you will learn more about yourself

and about the world which surrounds you.

Prayer takes time but you leave wiser than before,

And know there is more.

– Brittany Lehman