Aims

• To begin to share thoughts and feelings about the prayers 
  and spiritualities of others.
• To explore questions of healthy and unhealthy spiritual paths. 
• To consider areas of similarity and difference in diversity. 

Worship Focus
Pictures of praying hands, places of worship from different traditions. 

Leader's introduction to the theme
Invite people to spend some time looking at the pictures and possibly listening to a piece of music like "African Sanctus" by David Fanshawe, a work based on the Latin Mass. It fuses together African faiths and voices, arising from a cross-shaped pilgrimage through the African continent. 

People may want quietly to share their reactions to the pictures and the music. 

No doubt faiths have influenced each other across the centuries. Some well-known twentieth-century writers on prayer have brought together the insights of East and West. Can people share what they know of the stories and meditations of Anthony de Mello such as "Sadhana" or the writings of Bede Griffiths, John Main, Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating? 

Today, more than ever, we are conscious of the meeting of cultures and faith in our midst, and also of the welter of books and courses on spirituality such as you can discover on railway bookstall shelves. What are we to make of all this? For starters, how do we define “spirituality”? 

Some situations to reflect upon

• Issue-driven prayer   A group of people from different faiths got together to pray during the weeks leading up to the war in Iraq. People from different traditions shared some words which they thought would speak across cultures and introduced a period of silence. This was held at the Society of Friends because of its simplicity of architecture and decoration and its tradition of peace. Would participants have gone along? What would have compelled them - or made them hesitate? 
• "We're all the same deep down"    That comment was made by a Catholic to a  Baptist on a course on spiritual direction and accompaniment. What were they getting at? Is it that simple – as prayer, interpretation and experience interweave in prayer journeys? Could this comment be extended to other faiths and how would you compare them? 
• Visiting another place of worship or meeting a neighbour of a different faith Have participants had experience of this? How did they feel and what were their impressions? How important is this sort of crossing over?
• Myers-Briggs and Enneagram workshops   Have people had experience of these two ways of understanding ourselves and others? Some differences seem to derive from a mixed religious or psychological background. Are there universal insights and personality types which cut across cultures and traditions? Do some people seek a mystical path more than others? Or find different kinds of prayer satisfying? 
• “I'm into spirituality but I haven't got any time for religion or the Church” Have particpants come across this kind of statement? Why do people reach this conclusion? In your experience in what ways is the Church a place to deepen spiritual roots? How could it be better? 

Invite people to stay with some of their thoughts and feelings during some quiet music, asking God to speak through the time to them. 

Questions to help each other with
Is there such a thing as healthy and unhealthy spiritualities? On a large sheet of paper get people to offer suggestions on both kinds in two columns. Is this true of Christianity? Of other faiths and journeys? 

What are the ways we can explore spirituality in a healthy rather than unhealthy way? 

Are there some rough rules of thumb we can use healthy spirituality? For example, does it produce Christ-like character; does it lead to concern for the neighbour and justice; does it hold in balance the inner and outer journeys; is there a balance between engagement and withdrawal; is there someone around to act as a sounding board and represent the wisdom of the tradition? 

Are there any ways we can try and build bridges with another group – for example another place of worship? A meditation group? 

A time of prayer
People might like to use this Prayer for Peace: 

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth. 
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. 
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. 
Let peace fill our hearts. 

This prayer was launched by Satish Kumar, a member of the Jain Community, and by Mother Teresa in August 1981. It is a free paraphrase of words from one of the oldest Hindu scriptures and is now used by people of many faiths. 

Extra resources for further ideas and follow up
Mary Grey “Sacred Longings” (SCM) and Dorothee Soelle “The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance”(Fortress Press) for two examples of theologians and activists drawing on different traditions of insight and wisdom within the context of global distress. 

Explore some examples of prayers from other faiths – can you tell where they come from? Can we truly understand them out of their faith context? Can people recall the Millennium prayer words? 

For example:

O Lord, guide our Leaders to be witnesses to justice, 
To strive for what is morally right, irrespective of colour or creed, 
To make decisions in the best interests of all humankind, 
And not at the expense of poorer nations. 

Some concluding worship might recall scriptural verses about God being beyond our human understanding and words. 

For example: Psalm 139.17-18 ; Isaiah 55.9-10 ; Job 38.

[Home] [Back]