Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Prayer is a very interesting experience. It can be approached from different angles. Some find prayer to be the most direct path to speaking with G-d. Others see it as a method of self-introspection. It is also possible for one's prayers to be a combination of the two, for self-introspection might be that we need to humble ourselves before others, especially G-d, and realize that humans are dependent. We need others to help us. This might be among the most difficult things to do because the average person likes to feel in control. Hence, daily, we need to be reminded of our dependency.

Of course, since we are creatures living in high stress lives, these precious moments are needed. We just tend not to take advantage of them. Instead, we speed through a bunch of words, never considering the essential points of prayer. This is a great harm, for many of us do not have so much time to contemplate our lives and what we need to advance ourselves spiritually. We should be resolved to take at least a few extra seconds during the three times of prayer a day to, at the very least, humble ourselves a little, recognizing we must continually strive to be better people.