Tricolored Heron : How Does Prayer Work?

Tricolored Heron

This is a Tricolored Heron.  I wasn’t sure if I’d see it this morning or not.  There had been reports that it was in the area, but of course - it’s a bird.  Too, our current drought is a factor.  For the moment, it means that the local pond is shrinking, making it easier to hunt the fish trapped in a smaller volume.  But very soon, there may not be a pond at all, the next horrible inflection point.  Encountering this bird entailed study of course, knowing its habitat, seasonality, etc.  The “head” is a critical element.  Perhaps in some way, faith was required as well.  Could hope, or expectation, or simple desire, somehow influence whether I had this encounter or not?  Is the “heart” also in play when we go looking for things?

Jewish liturgy includes a wide variety of types of prayer.  Some are simple.  We offer prayers of thanksgiving for blessings we receive and dangers we avoid.  We praise God and acknowledge the beauty and majesty of creation.  Other prayers contain within them challenging notions of transactional bargaining.  We the people will do this in exchange for God doing that.  This contingent element can certainly discomfit some.  And still more fraught - living in pluralistic times - are the prayers that emphasize particularity and chosenness.  The modern ear hears words of ranking and recoils from them.  In common, though, all these prayers combine faith and action, human and divine.  Belief and manifestation occur together.

I remain contentedly baffled about how prayer “works.”  Ancient rituals offered gifts or appeasement in exchange for ending crises.  Modern analyses might see instead that we internalize our vision of desirable endstates.  I do find compelling Abraham Joshua Heschel’s (z”l) beautiful image of prayer.  He sees prayer as a lantern casting light so that we’re able to see our path and take action.  The Divine and the human work together to enhance the world.  It is a formula equally humbling and empowering.  As a man of deep faith, prayer’s mechanism is less important than its outcome.  As I have meaningful encounters, whether with a Heron or the Divine, my prayers are answered and my faith deepened.