Spiritual Preparation
Part of Windows and Mirrors
In private or in public, in solitude or with others, prayer is a highly personal experience. Whether you pray regularly, have never prayed or have prayed or meditated before, you may find this session challenging and revealing, as you guide children to explore prayer as a window into the human experience of the divine, and a mirror into our hopes, regrets and gratitude.
Whether you are atheist, humanist, deist or theist, or your beliefs have yet to settle, consider your relationship with prayer. If you do pray, why do you? To whom or what do you pray? What expectations do you bring to your prayers? What prayer practices have been satisfying and meaningful for you?
Whether or not you pray, consider the practices or rituals you use to draw strength during difficult times, celebrate life's joys or explore answers to life's questions. Are your prayer practices traditional ones that follow common rules, or have you blended or invented to personalize your practices? Do you use different practices for different needs? Do you use these practices alone, or with others? In silence or with sound? With movement or by being still? Consider how you could describe your own practices to children in the session.