sunday

Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
— Matthew 7:7

As we open ourselves to the presence of God, let each Sunday be an opportunity to experiment with different forms of prayer. What follows is prayer based on the practices of Julian of Norwich, a woman of faith who documented her visions and reflections. Hers were the first words written by a woman and published in the English language.

         According to writer Grace Ji-Sun Kim, “Julian of Norwich (1343–1416) suffered severe body pain and it was during her illness that she received visions that she wrote about in Revelations of Divine Love. She believed that if she welcomed her body’s sensations with openness, then she could open herself to the presence of God in a way that is less mediated by the mind.”

         Kim continues, “Julian wrote, “The fruit and the purpose of prayer is to be oned with and like God in all things.” She said that we should take a few minutes to let our heart and mind’s attention sink deep into our body, to remember our being’s inherent oneness. She used simple body postures to pray to God.”

         During this season of journey, doorways to heaven abound. We carry them within ourselves. When you attune yourself, and ask, what is opened to you? May the prayer below help you achieve openness and vulnerability in the presence of Holy Love. — Rev Gail 

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BODY PRAYER

Below is a prayer practice created and used by the Order of Julian for hundreds of years. It can be used anywhere and is accessible to people in almost any physical state of health:

• AWAIT (hands at waist, cupped up to receive):
  Await God’s presence, not as you expect, hope, or imagine, but just as it is in this moment.
• ALLOW (reach up, hands open):
  Allow a sense of God’s presence (or not) to come and be what it is, without meeting your expectations.
• ACCEPT (hands at heart, cupped towards body):
  Accept as a gift whatever comes or does not come. Accept that you are not in charge. Accept the infinity of God’s presence, present whether or not you are aware.
• ATTEND (hands outstretched, ready to be responsive):
  Attend to what you are called to, actions that God invites you to from this stance of openness.

I doubled-down when praying … thinking to myself that if I prayed enough I could change the ways of nature, even change the ways of God. But that is not how prayer works in our lives… I began to find confidence in the notion that prayer, though it may not be … directly influencing God, would continue to positively change the nature of myself. … We must remind ourselves that when we pray … we do so not because we ask something of God. But rather, we pray to put ourselves … into God’s hands, free at God’s disposition, vulnerable, listening to the Divine’s voice which speaks to our most honest self.… Body prayer is our entire being praying, which is what God requires of us. — Grace Ji-Sun Kim