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Is it possible to be spiritual and/or religious and never pray? By that I mean praying in the traditional sense... either using your own words to speak to G-d or words in a prayer book.
Why I ask is because prayer has always seemed pretty foreign and weird to me. I am quite a non-religious Jew, but I do take my adopted 4 and 6 year old to synagogue almost daily to say Kaddish (prayers for the dead, basically) for their parents. Even when I went through a period of trying out different religions, I never prayed really, and when I did it felt odd... like it wasn't real, or didn't "fit" with me, personally.
However I do love nature and feel spiritual when I am out in it, especially when I'm alone. I get my best thoughts and ideas when I am alone and by a body of water, for example. That feels a lot more "real" to me than saying, "Dear G-d, please bless so and so...", etc.
It must be possible because that decribes me Chava. I have a very different take on praying and I don't participate in it (out of respect to those who do, I am not going into detail here). This kinda of goes to the thread I started about what actions best demonstrates faith. I am a big believer in action, if that isn't already obvious. LOL
I experience a really wonderful connection with my creator and have learned things that I believe with great conviction without having held anything like a conventional conversation with God, so to speak. Now I do meditate, but that sounds pretty much like what you do too. That is different to me than prayer.
Yes, meditation is a good word for it, I guess! Although it's completely unplanned. I know some people who meditate for a certain amount of time, at the same time every day. That's completely different from what I do... I just "go with the flow" basically!
I agree with you about actions, too. I am also a person of action. I've seen too many people say they love G-d, believe, etc, and no actions to back up their words. I saw that other thread you started about actions and faith, but I didn't feel "worthy" to contribute to it, because I don't particularly consider myself to have a "faith" per se, although I am definitely Jewish and proud of it (in the cutural sense), and also believe in some kind of Creator, although I consider myself an agnostic.
However I do love nature and feel spiritual when I am out in it, especially when I'm alone. I get my best thoughts and ideas when I am alone and by a body of water, for example.
Just cuz its spontaneous doesn't mean it isn't valid meditation. I too love to connect through nature. It is one of the reasons I live in a special forest called a hammock*. Things grow especially big and fast here so its like lush on steroids (when we aren't having a drought!). And if this all gets to feeling ordinary for me, I like to pop over to Lake Wales and visit the Bok Tower Gardens for a spiritual boost. There is a lot more to Florida than beaches and now you know some!
*Main Entry: 2hammock
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
1 : HUMMOCK
2 : a fertile area in the southern U.S. and especially Florida that is usually higher than its surroundings and that is characterized by hardwood vegetation and deep humus-rich soil
Hi,
As a Christian, and since this was posted in Spirituality, I will answer you in this manner.
Those who either don't "belive in", or "don't pray", are those who have never tried it, consistently, each day for awhile. That's a pretty broad statement, I know. But, if you haven't tried it, continuing for awhile, you don't know what you are missing!
Prayer is communication with God, as one believes in Him. It doesn't have to be with a group; it can be personal, with just one person.
If nothing else, pray for Strength to do God's Will, as you understand what that Will is.
Best wishes.
Thru some dark times of my youth, I learned to pray as a way to communicate with the God that I was beginning to understand and have kept it up over the years, Generally in the morning and at night before bed and many times in between as I feel it. Prayer and meditation is the way I maintain the spiritual contact to the creator and learn how to be a better human being. As many blessings as I've received saying, THANK YOU GOD, everyday is pretty much mandatory in my world!
I feel just like you two do. I don't practice a religion but have studied and/or experimented in may to try to find the right one for me. No luck yet. I pick a little from each to help me along, and I don't think anything wrong with it.
I also see meditation as a form of communication more suited for me than praying, and look for comforthing environments to include the swamps of Georgia to the desert of Nevada to do this. Now, I use the little fish pond in the backyard at sundown to do this and I feel totally relaxed. I thank the 'stars' that at this time in my life I have more to be thankful for than to 'complain' about.
May the stars blink ever so bright for you and yours!
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