In recent years, the practices of prayer have been evolving for many religious traditions. Even western medicine is looking at prayer as it expands its concept of healing. In this program, we consult several people from a variety of practices about the role of prayer in their lives.
Guests
Roberta Bondi, professor of church history at Emory University, Atlanta, on the ancient practices of prayer in everyday life
Gregory Plotnikoff, medical director at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, on the promises and limitations of the use of intercessory prayer in medicine
Michele Balamani, executive director of the Baraka Pastoral Counseling Center in Maryland, on how and why prayer improves the outcomes of mental health care, especially in African-American communities
Anoushka Shankar, sitarist, on Hindu chant and prayer to many Gods
Stephen Mitchell, author and acclaimed translator of sacred texts, on "non-religious" prayer
Michael Dennis Browne, poet, on his Centering Prayer, a Christian contemplative practice akin to meditation
Plus brief primers on Jewish prayer and Muslim prayer
Recommended Reading
By Roberta Bondi (selected):
• To Pray and to Love
• In Ordinary Time
• Memories of God
• To Love as God Loves
• Houses
By Stephen Mitchell (selected):
• The Enlightened Mind: An Anthology of Sacred Prose
• A Book of Psalms
• The Book of Job
• The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation
• Tao te Ching
• The Gospel According to Jesus
Also recommended:
• The Wisdom of the Fathers, also called The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers can be found in many translations. Roberta Bondi recommends those of Benedicta Ward and Owen Chadwick.
• There is a wide body of literature on the subject of prayer and healing. Popular authors include Larry Dossey and Rachel Naomi Remen.
• There is a growing body of writing on "centering prayer," including seminal works by Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating.
• There are new prayer books, and faithful renderings of ancient prayer books and prayer forms, worth exploring in every tradition.
Special Note: The reading from Rilke's Book of Hours was from Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God.
Music
(Click titles and artist names to purchase from Public Radio Music Source.)
• "Veni sancte spiritus," by Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos, from Chant, Angel 55138
• "Woodsong C" (R. Carlos Nakai, flute), from Inner Voices, Canyon Records 7021
• Suite No. 2 in D (Yo-Yo Ma, cello), by J.S. Bach, from Bach: The Cello Suites, Sony 63203
• "Spirit of God" and "How I Got Over," by Robert Robinson and Henry Wiens, from Praise from the Heart, From the Heart Productions 1998
• "Sim Sholom" (Richard Tucker, tenor), by Sholom Secunda Chorus, from A Passover Seder Festival, Sony 48304
• "Vandanaa Trayee" and "Mahaa Mrityunjaya," by Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar, from Chants of India, Angel/EMI 55948
• "I can go? I can go to my father?" and "Movement 3," by Piano Circus Band, from Robert Moran: Arias, Interludes and Inventions from Desert of Roses, Argo 436 128
• "Pilgrim's Hymn (from The Three Hermits)" (Stephen Paulus, composer; Michael Dennis Browne, text), by The Dale Warland Singers, from Bernstein and Britten, American Choral Catalogue ACC 123
• "Francis Poulenc: Villanelle for Piccolo and Piano" (Paula Robison, piccolo; Charles Wadsworth, piano), MusicMasters 60040
• "Why" (Kol Simcha; Michael Heitzler, clarinet), from Klezmer Soul, World Class 11303-2
• "Sanya" (Kohachiro Miyata, shakuhachi), from Japan: Shakuhachi—The Japanese Flute, Nonesuch 72076
• "In This Lovely Summertime," by Summer Song, from Frifot, Northside NSD 6024
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