"A Prayer That Will Be Answered"

The next section of the book is "A Prayer That Will Be Answered: Meditation and Prayer." I found the way I blogged about the last section of the book to be interesting, looking at over-arching themes in the section, rather than just giving my interpretation of poems, so I'll continue with that.

The poem "I Can't Speak" by Alicia Ostriker seems to say that we can't always control our bodies, but not in the literal way. Instead, the poem suggests some disconnection between our souls and our bodies. Taking this poem in the context of the section, I would venture a guess that it is saying praying should come from within; it's not always about the act of praying.

"Fishing in the Keep of Silence" by Linda Gregg jumps at me. It says God is going to sleep and He trusts heaven to take over. The narrator says God knows there are enough fish in the net. I'm not sure what this poem means, but it certainly has a calm, meditative feel to it, which relates to the theme of meditation in this section. Overall, this section within the context of the entire book seems to say that in times of trouble, some quiet prayer and meditation is all that is needed. Also, it seems to indicate that meditation alone can be prayer, in some sense. This reminds me of a song we performed in choir, called "Oremus" by Sisask. It uses no words, only vowel sounds. The idea behind the song is that sometimes we don't always know the exact words to pray, but we still feel it. Here is the song, it's great for meditation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJuhcxr7Buo. This is not our choir performing, although this choir does an excellent job themselves.