Praying through writing on Medium
Photo by Marquise Kamanke on Unsplash
Writing here often feels like I am praying. Praying and writing are similar both express the inner person. Well, I suppose it depends on what type of praying or writing we are doing. If it is public I guess it not expressing fully the inner yearnings. I am thinking of a general prayer ‘to bless all the people’ or a piece of objective writing such as reporting on who won the US Presidential race.
I have been preoccupied since last Thursday. Too many things demanding my time and taking me away from writing/praying.
I attended Sunday week ago an Elijah Summer School Alumni event via zoom. It was an open invitation to all former Summer School participants to come together for a few hours and look at prayer within Judaism.
The question centred around, “ What is prayer?” and whether it is one of the 613 commands to pray or not. Alon the director of Elijah led us through two different positions on the subject one by Rambam (Maimonides) and the other by Nachmanides both Jewish scholars of the 12th century.
He explained that Jews do theology through a legal tradition hence the two different positions in a bid to find the answer.
Ramban takes the view that prayer is a command citing Exodus 23: 25 “You shall worship the Lord your God” and Deut. 11: 13 “and to worship God with all of your heart”
Nachamandides questions his assertion. The passage that spoke most from the two was the following from Nachmandides,
Therefore certainly the entire matter of prayer is not an obligation at all, but is an attribute of divine mercy, who hears and answers, whenever we call upon him. And the essential meaning of the verse “to serve him with all your heart” is a positive commandment that all of our service to the God, blessed be He, should be with all our heart, namely with the complete desired intention for the sake of his name, with no evil thought, not that we should perform the commandments without [proper] intention, or on the chance that they may be of benefit. As it says, love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might, that the command is to love God with our entire heart, and that we should risk our lives and our possessions for his love. And the midrash that states that “to serve God with all your heart” is Torah study or prayer is only a way of offering scriptural proof for something that is not scripturally mandated.
We concluded ( at least I think we concluded) that prayer is a disposition. A disposition whereby we are creatures in need of our creator indeed our creator may be in need of our prayers. Certainly helps me throw off any guilt that I am praying when I am in need.
I wondered whether words are necessary probably not, it is an inclination, it is ‘a turning to’. Words probably help us know what are the inner yearning of our hearts, God already knows. Silence becomes the highest form of prayer when we turn to God and are comforted by being present.
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