Monday, March 3, 2008
Prayer & the Kalimba:
You Don't Have to be a Believer

If you've been reading Monday's tips these last few weeks, you may have noted that I have not asked anyone to believe in God or Jesus. Though the structure of my prayer may appear to assume the existence of God - my prayers often mention God or Lord or Light - I actually do not believe in a particular personification of God.

I was trained as a scientist, with much coursework in math, physics, chemistry, geology, and biology from MIT (SB, 1984, course 21 of all things). My scientific world view does not include God or the hand of God acting and adjusting. Some people claim to see God in the logic or logos of the network of physical laws that govern physical reality. That sounds beautiful, but that is not my belief either. What I know about the way the universe works, and the way life works, does not require a divine hand or assistance from God.

And yet, my experience of a Light that illuminates my failures and successes when deep in prayer or meditation leads me to proclaim the glory of that Light. I don't understand what it is, but I do know that I experience it. Prayer doesn't fit into my scientific world view, but I do it, in spite of the fact that it doesn't make sense to my conscious mind.

So my advice to you: Find a prayer phrase that you can get behind and say YES to, and try it - even if you aren't a believer.

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