I should know. I'm a "professional Christian", yet there have been lengthy periods where the idea of prayer seemed like an "ought", and left me with a sense of inadequacy instead of renewal. Similarly reading the Bible devotionally was often folded into the weekly teaching preparation.
In fact, most people I know who claim the Christian Bible as their sacred text, and even those who defend it fiercely, rarely read it. For many Christians prayer happens perhaps when they feel overwhelmed and need a little divine intervention.
Why the disconnect?
I have an idea, because I know these feelings personally. In our highly educated, fast paced and noisy world, our minds are processing huge amounts of information daily (it seems our educational system is geared to produce exactly that...information reciptcals and processing machines). It doesn't come as a great surprise that our approach to the spiritual practices of prayer and scripture are more influenced by the legacy of Greek influence on our western culture than the eastern mindset of the Jews who wrote the Bible, and, incidentally, Jesus himself.
If I had to compare the two mindsets, the western mind approaches scripture the same way many people eat lunch. Emphasis on big portions over quality, preferably from a drive-through, or in a microwaveable package, eaten in an uninspiring office cubicle setting in 10 minutes or less. Whereas, in some parts of the world, food is considered sacred, and eating is almost a religious experience for which time must be taken, and the dish must be fully appreciated. The setting must be pleasant, talking about the deliciousness of the food is expected, and part of the enjoyment. The chief concerns are not the calorie count or the fat or sugar content, but the freshness of the ingredients (preferably seasonal), the marriage of the flavors, and the resulting overall culinary experience.
Similarly, the Greek/western mind reads the Bible to extract the correct information from it (presumably in hopes gaining some kind insight that might help one's standing with God). Whereas, the Jewish/eastern mind reads the Bible to experience God within the pages of the text. The Greek mind wants to travel through the a passage of scripture, while the eastern mind is content to take its time, finding renewal by savoring each portion of scripture.
Similarly, prayer in the eastern mind is an experience of divine Presence rather than a kind of personal progress report to God and request for favors. For the Early Church, the Desert Fathers, medieval mystics and recent contemporaries like Thomas Merton, prayer was a way to experience God's naked presence, rather than a discursive exercise. The Bible too, though certainly useful and necessary for guiding us through story, poem and instruction, was seen as a container of God's presence within its words and pages...something to be spiritually tasted and savored in addition to being intellectually processed.
In the words of Judith Kunst, "In Judaism, scripture is not a signpost pointing to truth but a portion of the truth itself--not just a promise to be fulfilled or a commandment to be obeyed, but a real-time serving of scriptural food to be tasted, chewed, and digested into the body, mind, heart and soul."
In Untitled we're in the middle of looking at the ancient practices of Contemplative Prayer and Lectio Divina. If prayer and scripture reading sound uninspiring, draining, difficult and frustrating, these two ways of experiencing God through prayer and scripture might just be for you. More to come . . .
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