Coloring Books & Other Forms of Prayers

I think there are times when I am  “way too serious.”

For example, I remember the first time I visited New Orleans. The book I took along to read on this vacation was The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes.

I can imagine that the great comedian, Steve Martin, could look at me and say, “Rev. Rick, you sound like one WILD AND CRAZY GUY!!”

This “too serious” state of mind can sometimes show up in my ideas about prayer and meditation. Unity’s Fourth Principle is all about the importance of the uplink of prayer and the downlink of meditation. 

In fact, Unity started out as a prayer ministry. One of the first things that Myrtle Fillmore, the cofounder of Unity, created in the 1890s was Silent Unity — that great 24/7 prayer beacon.

I believe very strongly that we all need some form of daily prayer and meditation. However, every once in awhile I need to be reminded that prayer and meditation can take many different nontraditional forms. I think the angel of my better nature is often saying to me, “Lighten up, kiddo!”

So for all of the above reasons I was so delighted recently to read a wonderful article by Chris Davies, who is an author and contributor to a daily devotional entitled Rise Up!: Spirituality for Resistance.  Chris felt that he was “spiraling down” because of work and personal life overload.

A good friend of Chris’ asked him, “Have you tried coloring?” So Chris’ prayers started to take form in a coloring book. He drew a tiny person (which represented himself) and overhead were big clouds “full of negative self talk and trauma.” But then came many beautiful pictures that represented overcoming, hope, joy, and love.

He kept on doing coloring book prayers using many different colors. It reached a point where Chris not only felt better, but he started once again to be able to help others. Also, Chris once again was able to be engaged in social activism and community building — two things that mean so much to Chris. He was able to do this despite much of the recent negative news and trends.

After reading the article by Chris, I decided to try the coloring book prayer method. This was quite different from my standard morning prayer and meditation routine. And you know what?... I liked it! In fact, while this might not be how I’m going to do prayer and meditation every morning, I really want to work it into my “pitching rotation,” if you catch my drift.

My normal morning prayer and meditation routine is to do three different readings. This includes readings from sacred scriptures, Unity and New Thought books and articles, 12 Step material, etc. Then I often write a prayer letter to my Higher Power. Lastly, I meditate. 

But what has been really enjoyable is to have days when I deviate from the above pattern. In this effort I have been listening to folks who have so many wonderful different ways to practice prayer and meditation.

I have loved hearing about friends who have “dog walking in the park” prayer and meditation practices. They have really felt close to the Divine while following Fido on a path by a stream or in a field of nature.

Now, I am a cat lover, and I have tried to teach my cat to take walks with me on a leash. But this, of course, has proven to be unsuccessful. So I have done the next best thing. I bought a cat stroller, which looks like a mesh enclosed baby buggy. Sphinx, my cat, and I have loved our prayer and meditation times along the American River. Sphinx, by the way, worships the Cosmic Kitty. 

Part of our spiritual practice includes “sniff-nics.” What is a “sniff-nic,” you ask? Well, Sphinx and I sometimes stop along our strolls, and I have a picnic. Meanwhile, Sphinx prefers to spend this time sniffing the great outdoors. 

Another interesting form of prayer includes the martial arts. My daughter, Therese, became very interested in karate a number of years ago. I had never seen the martial arts as a path for spiritual growth. However, the Master of Therese’s dojo in Virginia was connected to Unity Of Roanoke Valley when I was the senior minister there. 

This dojo has a wonderful karate program for children, and I could really see how the routines being learned, and the values that were being stressed, were a beautiful way of doing prayer and meditation. 

I can see how gardening can be a great way of doing prayer and meditation. Going to a concert or just setting aside time at home to listen to good music can be a powerful form of prayer and meditation. 

My daughter, Rachel, who is a senior at the University of Massachusetts, has become very interested in ballroom and swing dancing. When she was recently visiting us in Sacramento, she found a dance studio in the dockyards that has a swing and bebop dancing night. The “hardest” drinks being sold at this place were Diet Cokes. A good time seemed to be had by all. And I can see how this younger crowd could be in the middle of prayer and meditation while dancing. I love it when people start dancing in the middle of the music at Spiritual Life Center’s Sunday services.

I certainly know that when we saw the immersive Monet exhibit in Sacramento, that this was truly a form of prayer and meditation. What an incredible experience it was, with the virtual reality glasses, to be able to jump into several pictures by Monet.

Prayer and meditation can take so many different forms. But what is important is that we have these experiences in our lives, I believe. For myself, I have found that it is really important to have these experiences on a daily basis.

I noticed that both Jesus and Buddha felt that they needed the experience of prayer and meditation on a daily basis. Thank God that this experience can happen in so many different ways.

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick