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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wonder if you'd like to meditate daily? It is supposedly very relaxing and centering. [/quote]

OP. I’ve gone through phases of regular breath work meditation (Ten Percent Happier type stuff, mostly). I have found it incredibly helpful, mostly to notice and by extension detach from my own thoughts. It made me much less reactive, and I felt more present/relaxed in my own life.( I am out of the habit right now, and typing this I realize I should get back into it.)

But meditation never made me feel connected to something bigger. It wax always kind of all about me — my breath, my thoughts, my observing, my returning.  That sense of “oneness” that people sometimes describe… I just never felt it. I’d like to. I’d like to feel like there’s something more, and that there’s some way of tapping into it.

I wondered if prayer was a way in, or if the fact that I don’t really “believe” (in what? In the bearded guy in white robes, I guess) means by definition it wouldn’t be prayer. Maybe I just have to try and keep at it and see for myself. [/quote]

When I don't know what to pray, I look up collects (a funny word for a written prayer) of the ancient church. I find it helps to get some words that have been considered valuable enough to have lasted centuries or even millenia. Maybe this would help you?[/quote]

This is good advice, and as an Anglican, I do the same. I would recommend buying a Book of Common Prayer.  The most traditional one is the 1662 version, then the 1928 version, with the 1979 being the approved version for the Episcopal Church today. I use the 1928. The Collects collect the thoughts and intentions associated with the scripture readings associated with the day/week, which in turn are associated with the date on the church calendar.

The form of a good Collect, as perfected by Thomas Cranmer in the 1500s (in my humble but accurate opinion) helps form your own personal prayers once you get the hang of it. But the written prayers are a wonderful, comforting, and thoughtful resource. I often find that the Collect truly expresses my true desire, hope, and intention, but more clearly than I would have said it without help.[/quote]

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