Years ago the magazine Christian Century used to a have a one page feature that I enjoyed. For each issue an invited theologian was asked to choose a favorite poem which was displayed followed by a statement of maybe a hundred or hundred-fifty words by the theologian explaining what it was about this poem that he or she admired or enjoyed.

If someone were to ask me for one of my favorite passages in theology or spirituality I would perhaps lead with the pericope at the bottom of this reflection by Rabbi Abraham Heschel. I wrote my dissertation on the implications of Rabbi Heschel’s work for constructing a mystical-prophetic approach to pastoral care and have been studying his works for thirty years or so. The passage is found in his book titled variously as Man’s Quest for God or simply Quest for God. The subtitle for both is Studies in Prayer and Symbolism. I suspect I have posted the paragraph before on THE ALMOND TREE, at least partially. Before presenting the entire passage let me give a bit of context for the quote.

For the most part the book is comprised of a series of talks turned into articles and articles turned into talks. So rather than a fluid text from beginning to end, each piece can be read for meaning in and of itself, as well as being a piece sewn to other pieces of a larger quilt. Addressing corporate worship and personal prayer, it is my favorite book on prayer. At once illuminating and provocative, it speaks deeply to me about the essence of prayer and what is involved in making one’s life a prayer. Sadly, Heschel’s low estimation of much Jewish corporate worship at the time1 resonates with my experience of much or most Christian worship. But in addition to addressing the faults and failures of his tradition’s corporate worship, he offers substantive responses that transcend one particular religious tradition, goes beyond liturgical rubrics, and are more about what it means to be human and to live a significant life, what the cost of spiritual absenteeism and the absence of soul is to the person, community, and entire earth community.

For Heschel, prayer is not merely a religious obligation but more so “an ontological necessity.” To be human is to pray (if we are to fulfill the possibility of our humanity) and to pray is to become more fully human. At the core of Heschel’s anthropology is the conviction that inherent in the human person is the subterranean awareness that something is asked of us — not only by “the one in whom we live and move and have our being” but also by virtue of our humanity and what it means to be human (as opposed to a human being).2

That something is asked of us is not meted out by some tyrannically demanding life-lender or taskmaster. Instead it is one of the greatest compliments and privileges bestowed on humans who have an integral role and responsibility for the mutually enhancing relationship with and the flourishing of all life forms, human and other-than-human.

The innate reality that something is asked of us and the internal sense that something is expected from us is, for those desirous of becoming more fully human, an allusion to meaning beyond ourselves. It is also an obligation to our humanity itself, in order to make good on the inherent truth within us that implies each of us comes into this world as an unfinished symphony. Of the ultimate question(s), Heschel writes:

We owe our question not to something less but something which is more than the known. We ask because the world is too much for us, because the known is crammed with marvel, because the world is replete with what is more than the world as we understand it.

The question about God is not a question about all things, but a question of all things; not an inquiry into the unknown but an inquiry into that which all things stand for; a question we ask for all things. . . The mind does not know how to phrase it, yet the soul sighs it, sings it, pleads it.

So with that, let’s listen to Rabbi Heschel’s words and see what they evoke in us.

“To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. It is all we can offer in return for the mystery by which we live. Who is worthy to be present at the constant unfolding of time? Amidst the meditation of mountains, the humility of flowers–wiser than all alphabets–clouds that die constantly for the sake of God’s glory, we are hating, hunting, hurting. Suddenly we feel ashamed of our clashes and complaints in the face of the tacit glory in nature. It is so embarrassing to live! How strange we are in the world, and how presumptuous our doings! Only one response can maintain us: gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.”3

(♦ I will offer some comments on this passage in my next post)

NOTES

1 Man’s Quest for God was published in 1954. It contains articles that go back to the 1940’s, yet much of what concerned Rabbi Heschel then is, unfortunately, just as timely and urgent for us to hear today.

2 Heschel makes the distinction between human being and being human. The former is a given for homo sapiens sapiens. But being or becoming truly and fully human is not a done deal. In fact, it’s up for grabs. It is a gift, vocation, task, responsibility, privilege, possibility, and destiny. Said a bit differently, each of us is summoned not only to be human (homo sapiens) but also the unrepeatable, unique human being God has created us to become and be.

3 Man’s Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, p. 5 (all editions).

ARTWORK: Photos (Top: Aspens Afloat. Bottom: Forest Floor) by Kathy Conzelman. Used with the artist’s permission. See Kathy’s work here.