Friday, December 24, 2004
Misunderstanding English
To appreciate what we are actually doing when we pray, we have to examine what prayer really means. First, we have to understand that in Judaism we do not pray. Prayer is an English word. What Jews do is l'hispallel.
L'hispallel is a unique experience, but as with most Jewish things today, this holy word has been changed into an English word with a western connotation. The word "prayer" actually comes from the Latin word meaning "to beg" — exactly what most people feel prayer is. They imagine a big king in the sky who is getting a big ego boost from watching his subjects beg. This is a terrible image of our selves and of G-d.
Of course, with this definition and five minuites in front of Aquinas, we would of course learn that Catholics don't pray either. What we do is, well, oremus. But, of cousre, we don't talk like that, becasue a lot of people who think prayer is changing God's mind doesn't mean that's what prayer is.
We pray to change ourselves. That is what "to pray" is. You talk to God as a privilige, and you pray for things because He tells you to talk to him. I mean, carrying the logic of this article to it's conclusion, there's no point to "l'hispallel" either, because God knows you're going to do it . . . so why bother? Have to be careful about cause and effect. Very careful.
L'hispallel is a unique experience, but as with most Jewish things today, this holy word has been changed into an English word with a western connotation. The word "prayer" actually comes from the Latin word meaning "to beg" — exactly what most people feel prayer is. They imagine a big king in the sky who is getting a big ego boost from watching his subjects beg. This is a terrible image of our selves and of G-d.
Of course, with this definition and five minuites in front of Aquinas, we would of course learn that Catholics don't pray either. What we do is, well, oremus. But, of cousre, we don't talk like that, becasue a lot of people who think prayer is changing God's mind doesn't mean that's what prayer is.
We pray to change ourselves. That is what "to pray" is. You talk to God as a privilige, and you pray for things because He tells you to talk to him. I mean, carrying the logic of this article to it's conclusion, there's no point to "l'hispallel" either, because God knows you're going to do it . . . so why bother? Have to be careful about cause and effect. Very careful.
