Nationally there has been
an uptick in attendance at
religious services around
the country in the wake of
the horrors of September
11.We know that Jewish
people have a wide range of
feelings and practices
relative to God and prayer,
from very traditional
to non-belief. Mindful of
this range, on this
page and the following
three pages are
a variety of prayers and
thoughts
about praying that we hope
may
offer you some comfort.
When I was a
teenager, a highly
educated relative
of mine told me,
"Smart,
inquisitive individuals don’t
pray… only the unquestioning,
unimaginative
people turn to
prayer."
As an adult, I
decided to test this relative’s
statement. So for
almost 20 years
as a psychologist,
I have researched
why people pray
and how praying
impacts their
lives and relationships. I
have learned about
the intelligence
behind prayer and
the practical benefits
of saying certain
Jewish blessings and
prayers with
sincerity on a daily or weekly
basis.
The scientific
study of prayer began in 1902,
when Harvard
psychology professor William
James (the brother
of novelist Henry James)
presented his
research findings on "The Varieties
of Religious
Experience" in a series of
lectures at the
University of Edinburgh in
Scotland.
Professor James had studied
hundreds of
individuals and concluded that
most people use
only 10% of their minds, but
the person who
prays or meditates with sincerity
gains access to
far more of the mind’s capacity for understanding
and insight.
Since 1902 several
hundred research studies have attempted
to identify how
prayer and meditation open neural passageways
in the brain and
allow the individual to increase his
or her potential
for intuitive knowledge, positive moods,
improved health,
empathy, creativity, compassion, and a
deeper connection
to the mysterious soul of the universe that
we call God.
This research has
become more accurate since the 1990s
because of the
work of Dr. Andrew Newberg, a radiologist
at the University
of Pennsylvania,who has been studying
how the brain’s
chemistry and neural activity
change
significantly when a person prays
or meditates. Dr.
Newberg has used
advanced imaging
technologies to locate
the increased
levels of awareness,
peacefulness,
immune-system boosts,
and creativity
that occur as a result
of taking oneself
into a state of
prayer or
meditation.
Gaining access to
a larger portion
of your mind can
be useful in
many ways. For
example, one of
my counseling
clients is a highly
sensitive
16-year-old young
woman named Jenna
who has
been diagnosed
with irritable
bowel syndrome,but
has used a
few specific
Jewish prayers to
reduce her daily
stress levels
and achieve
greater mastery
over her anxious
thoughts and
feelings.
Another of my
counseling clients
is Eli, a lawyer
in his 30s who used
to be impatient
and judgmental with
his wife and their
three children. But
in recent months
he has been using
Jewish prayers to
increase his sense of
patience and
compassion with his loved ones.
In other words, my
highly educated relative had
assumed that
avoiding prayer would help him
be a more
intelligent person. But in fact, research has shown
that prayer and
meditation actually increase one’s access to
various types of
intelligence, especially the ability to have
a more balanced
perspective, increased patience, greater
resilience, more
intuitive insights, and deeper spiritual
moments of
connection and clarity.
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A Nighttime Prayer
for Letting Go of
Stress
Len Felder is the author of Seven Prayers That Can
Change Your Life, and
while he addresses the following prayer in full length in
his book,he has graciously written this special
shorter version for our readers.
Several hundred of
my counseling clients over the years have
proven that if you
close your eyes and find the quiet center
deep inside,more
often than not it can give you strength and
clarity during
stressful moments. Especially in light of the
events of
September 11,this powerful tool of stopping anxious
thoughts by using
prayer to connect with your inner strength
is a crucial
coping skill that has helped more than 70% of the
counseling clients
who have tried it.
My
client, "Lisa," a 38-year-old computer graphics
designer
and mother of two children, told me recently,
"I didn’t grow up
saying daily
prayers. But since September 11, I’ve found
moments of prayer
have helped me regain my strength and
resilience during
stressful episodes. I try to take a few moments
each day to slow
down and connect with my spiritual side so
I can stay calm
with my kids and be more focused in my work.
I also ask for God’s
wisdom on how to do something caring and
positive to
respond to the upsetting events that are happening
in our world. These
moments of prayer have helped me find
an inner strength
that I’ve really needed more than ever."
One prayer you may
find useful and comforting in recent
weeks is the
Hashkiveinu nighttime
meditation. It is estimated
that over 40
million Americans have sleep problems.In addition,
most of us carry a
lot of stress and worries into our beds
at night.The
Hashkiveinu prayer
is an ancient Jewish remedy
for overcoming
stress and finding a creative way to unwind
at night so we can
have better dreams, a more relaxed and
refreshing sleep,
and a deeper connection to the mysterious
loving Presence of
God.
Especially when
your mind is filled with frightening images
from the news on
television or pressing concerns from the
challenges of your
personal life and your work, this prayer
can help.Here are
the words and some interpretations of what
they mean:
"Hashkiveinu
Adonai Elokeinu l’shalom,v’ha-amideinu malkeinu
l’chayim. Ufros
aleinu sukkat sh’lomecha.V’tahkneinu b’eitzah
tovah mil’fanechah.V’hoshiyeinu
l’mah-ahn Sh’mecha.
Lay us down to
sleep in peace,Eternal One,our God,and raise
us up, our Ruling
Source, to renewed life. Spread over us the
shelter of Your
peace. Set us aright with good counsel from
Your holy
Presence, and save us for the sake of Your Name.
Shield us, remove
from us any foe, plague, sword, famine,and
woe. Remove any
spiritual impediments, either from the past
or the future, and
shelter us in the shadow of Your wings. For
You, O God, are a
gracious and compassionate Ruling Force.
Safeguard our
coming and our going for life and peace from
now to
eternity."
As you say this
prayer, imagine yourself connecting with the
mysterious and
infinite source of life — the source that keeps
your heart beating
and your soul pulsing even as you sleep.
Think about the
truly wonderful phenomenon that our lives
and energy
continue as we sleep.We inhale and exhale and
our hearts
continue to beat even when we let go of conscious
control and drift
off to sleep.
If you are a
person who struggles with the idea of what God
is, you can
still find focus and meaning in the Hashkiveinu.
It
is hard to be
human and not be thankful for and marvel at the
awesomeness of the
workings of the human body.
Each time
you try the Hashkiveinu prayer
at the end of the
day, notice if you
are still trying to control too much or if you
are willing to let
go to a comforting feeling or presence that
stays with you as
you sleep. This is the crucial part of the
Hashkiveinu prayer
that helps us gently enter the world of
sleep and
dreams.With practice,these ancient words of peace
can be relevant in
our modern lives.
Leonard Felder,
Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and author in West Los Angeles whose
books on the connection between spirituality and personal growth have sold
over 950,000 copies. His new book is
Seven
Prayers That Can Change
Your Life: How to Use Jewish Spiritual Wisdom for Enhancing Your
Health, Relationships, and Daily Effectiveness (Andrews-
McMeel, $12.95).
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Having
a richer SPIRITUAL life.