Praying with Our Hands: 21 Practices of Embodied Prayer from the World's Spiritual Traditions

By Jon M. Sweeney, Jennifer J. Wilson, Mother Tess Bielecki and Taitetsu Unno

A spiritual guidebook for bringing prayer into our bodies

The power of words is nowhere more evident than when we use them to pray, but prayer is also the place where we most often come up against the limitations of words. In this intriguing book of reflections and accompanying photographs, we see how our bodies, in particular our hands, can give meaning to our prayers in a way that words alone cannot.

Here are twenty-one simple ways of using our hands to speak to God, presented in word and image. These spiritual practices are from a broad range of religious traditions—from Anglican to Sufi, from Buddhist to Shaker. Some may be familiar, some new; all demonstrate the universal importance people of all faith traditions have given to embodied prayer. They teach us to experience the unique spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pray with our hands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781594734977

Jon M. Sweeney

JON M. SWEENEY is an independent scholar and an award-winning writer. He is a biographer of St. Francis of Assisi and translator of his writings, and his books on Franciscan subjects have sold more than two hundred thousand copies. Jon is the author of more than forty books, including The Pope Who Quit, which was optioned by HBO. He edits the magazine Living City, and is religion editor/associate publisher of Monkfish Publishing in Rhinebeck, NY. He’s appeared on CBS Saturday Morning and numerous other programs, and writes regularly for America magazine in the US, and The Tablet in the UK. Jon is married to Rabbi Michal Woll; their interfaith marriage has been profiled in national media. He's the father of four, and lives in Milwaukee.

Book preview

Praying with Our Hands

21 PRACTICES OF EMBODIED PRAYER FROM THE WORLD’S

SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS

JON M. SWEENEY

photographs by

JENNIFER J. WILSON

foreword by

MOTHER TESSA BIELECKI

afterword by

TAITETSU UNNO, PH.D.

Walking Together, Finding the Way

SKYLIGHT PATHS PUBLISHING

Woodstock, Vermont

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For my grandmother,

CLELIA BOSETTI SWEENEY

(1913-1997)

who prayed for me each day.

And for Danelle, my love.

Contents

Foreword by Mother Tessa Bielecki

Acknowledgments

Introduction: How Do We Pray with Our Hands?

ALL OF LIFE IS SACRED IF WE KNOW THAT GOD IS PRESENT

Work as Prayer

HOLINESS IS RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES

Welcoming the Sabbath

HUNGERING FOR GOD

Accepting the Holy Eucharist

WHEN WE FIND OUR CENTER, WE FIND GOD

Welcoming the Deity

RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT OVER TIME

Table Grace

WE ARE DIVINE AGENTS IN THE WORLD

Resisting Evil

ADORING THE DIVINE CLOSE AT HAND

Praying with Icons

TRUE FREEDOM COMES FROM LETTING GO

The Cosmic Mudra

WE ARE EXPRESSIONS OF GOD TO EACH OTHER IN COMMUNITY

Laying on of Hands

YEARNING FOR THE ONE WHOM WE CANNOT SEE OR TOUCH

Dancing with God

SHARING GOD’S GOODNESS

Breaking Bread

LINKING TO THE DIVINE

Counting Prayers

OUR BODIES ARE SANCTUARIES FOR GOD

Daily Honor

HUMILITY REQUIRES PRACTICE

Foot Washing

SEPARATENESS IS AN ILLUSION

Showing Compassion

SETTING ASIDE SACRED SPACE

Making an Altar

REVERENCE CAN BEGIN WITH THE HANDS AND TRAIN THE HEART

The Sign of the Cross

AN ENGAGED SPIRIT CANNOT HELP BUT SHOW ITSELF

Practicing Lovingkindness

GOD MAY COME AT ANY TIME

Receiving the Spirit

CONSECRATING OURSELVES

Holy Water

RECONCILIATION WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WITH GOD

Passing the Peace

CONCLUSION

Embodied Prayer Is an Expression of Who We Really Are

Afterword by Taitetsu Unno, Ph.D.

Photographer’s Notes

Source Notes

About the Author

Copyright

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Foreword

In a series of mystical poems, St. John of the Cross describes Christmas as a wedding: the wedding of God and matter, Divine and human, spirit and flesh. The Romances are nowhere near as sublime as John of the Cross’s other poetry, but they give us great insight into the role of the body in spiritual practice. And they introduce us to the great mystery known as spiritual marriage or bridal mysticism. Through the poetry of the Romances, St. John gives us a whole new image of Christmas. Jesus emerges from his mother’s womb not as a helpless baby but as an erotic bridegroom, and the celebration of Christmas becomes a wedding feast, the consummation of a marriage.

Throughout the history of Christianity and other traditions as well, as author Jon Sweeney notes, some have crudely separated the bride and groom and attempted to divorce matter from spirit, body from soul, earth from heaven, as though one were evil and the other good. It is important to remember that