The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer

Joan Chittister, OSB

Prayer is the link to a life beyond the mundane, the daily, the routine, the immediate dimensions of life. It is the beginning of a relationship with the God who is closer to us than we are to ourselves. It is a relationship with both creation and the Creator. It helps us grow into the fullness of ourselves, both spiritually and psychologically.

But authentic prayer requires something from us, as well as from the God we seek. It requires that we bring to it an open heart, a good deal of self-knowledge, constancy in darkness, and a willingness to attend to the Light, even when all we can see is darkness.

None of the brief reflections in this book are ever finished, ever closed, ever fully resolved. They are all ongoing steps along the way, steps we retrace over and over again as we do all the other parts of life, until they become the very breath we breathe, the vision and energy of our souls.

From the Introduction:

This is a small book. More important, it is very simple book. It does not teach a prayer form. It does not provide prayers for every occasion. It is not a history of prayer styles or theologies. It is neither a primer in prayer nor a discussion of the effects of prayer. But it does attend to what we are most inclined to forget. It is a discussion of the attitudes that prepare us for prayer. It is an examination of what we ourselves must bring to the discipline of prayer—whatever forms it takes—in order to make prayer an authentic and real, a deep and profound part of our lives.

Prayer is the link to a life beyond the mundane, the daily, the routine, the immediate dimensions of life. It is the beginning of a relationship with the God who is closer to us than we are to ourselves. It is a relationship with both creation and the Creator.  It grows us into the fullness of ourselves, both spiritually and psychologically.

But authentic prayer requires something from us, as well as from the God whom we seek. It requires, among other things, that we bring to it an open
heart, a good deal of self-knowledge, constancy in darkness and a willingness to attend to the Light, even when all we can see is darkness.

Spiritual elders from every tradition anchor each chapter of the book. Their words carry us through a spiritual history that is tried and true. They set our
sights. They give us the fruits of hundreds of years of spiritual search. They become the spiritual mentors of our own generation as they were of generations before us.

Each segment of the book is meant more to be a reflection on their insights than it is a lesson, in the educational sense of the word. It is not meant to be
“studied,” it is meant to be absorbed. Each segment is simply another way into prayer and designed to be of the process of prayer itself. It asks the question, “How much self-knowledge am I really bringing to my prayer?” for instance. And it requires an answer—week after week, year after year.

None of the segments is ever finished, ever closed, ever fully resolved. They are all ongoing steps along the way, steps we retrace over and over again as we do all the other parts of life, until they become the very breath we breathe, the vision and energy of our souls.

To aid in this deepening process of prayer, every section ends with a short sentence, a mantra, which, said over and over again throughout the day, hammers one particular quality of prayer or another deeper and deeper into our hearts as the days and years go by.

Finally, the Scripture passage at the end of each segment illuminates the process of prayer from the very core of the Scriptures. It embeds us in the
teaching and the life of salvation history. It binds us and our prayer life to the very beat of the heart of God.

Read the book in any order that appeals to you as you begin. Read the same chapter as many times as you want before you go on to another one.   Allow the mantras themselves to guide your prayer life for a while. Most of all, let the book pour gently into your soul. Don’t swallow it whole. Let every segment wash over you again and again. Let each of them become your prayer until, eventually, the words begin to disappear and only the reality of them remains.

Contents

Introduction

1. Self-knowledge
2. Responsibility
3. Enthusiasm for life
4. Discipline
5. Constancy
6. Living in God
7. Prayer and action
8. Humility
9. Authenticity
10. Presence
11. Vulnerability
12. Gratitude
13. Routine
14. Prayerfulness
15. Acceptance
16. Patience
17. Change
18. Consciousness
19. Blessing
20. Awareness
21. Growth
22. Immersion
23. Righteousness
24. Responsibility
25. Intimacy
26. Inwardness
27. Formlessness
28. Purpose
29. Abandonment
30. Effort
31. Readiness
32. Involvement
33. Humility
34. Simplicity
35. Openheartedness
36. Universalism
37. Trust
38. Realism
39. Consistency
40. Integrity
41. Enlightenment
42. Attention