Prayer as meditation and dialectic

         What is it to think of prayer? The first images that come to me are of kneeling in church and of reciting creeds timelessly beautiful and profound. So too do I think of a soldier in battle calling for strength and courage from above. Just as easily, I also think back to childhood; kneeling beside my bed and asking for super strength or to fly. These are all good and honest instances of prayer that most everyone agrees on. This sort of conscious, mindful prayer is good; both the spontaneous and the deliberate provide wisdom, calm and a centered peace of soul as is plain to see to even the secular. But these well established (and good) conceptions of prayer are not what I would like to discuss. 

        I recently heard Jordan Peterson remark in passing that there is a Christian idea that "when two or more are gathered in the spirit of the logos, truth will reveal itself". This is of course a derivation upon Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three gather in my name, I am there among them". What Jordan calls upon with the Greek idea of Logos translates strictly to "word" but was also understood as meaning "speech" "thought" or even "principle". It is the same word that is used in the Bible when John writes "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God... and the word became flesh and dwelt among us". The idea of this spoken word is central to our theology; after all God spoke the world into creation, and it is the incarnation of that word of God in prophecy and command that should save it. 

        That's dense theology, but before even Christian belief was pinned upon the "Logos" so too was the greek idea of the dialectic; which is a sort of mutual, conversational search for a derivable truth. This is the foundation of Greek philosophy and is the reason Plato wrote in dialogues. They believed that they could arrive at truth with only honest conversation between genuine parties searching together for truth. The resting assumption for such a belief is that there is a singular, actual truth and that it is able to be deducted and understood by humans through reason. 

           I believe that the assumptions made in a dialectic of this sort are in function and in nature the same as the foundations of prayer of the highest kind. For to believe that rational parties can reason their way to truth means, necessarily,  that there is a singular and absolute truth and that is just and reasonable. What is it to claim such a thing if not to claim a transcendental higher power. Christians believe the same; that God reveals himself to us and that as he does we may draw nearer to him, that is why we pray. Conversely, for someone to claim a quest for truth without acknowledgment of a higher power is necessarily to admit that one is not searching for real truth but mere vindication. 

        I don't think most would call prayer, meditation and dialectic the same things but in the truest participation of each they are. I think prayer is the opening of one's self in earnest to God AND the listening back for his revelation. In meditation one seeks to leave the barriers of one's own mind, the barriers of the self and to be unselfconscious so as to allow "enlightenment". This sounds very Eastern, I know, but I think dialectic is the same. A conversation cannot lead to truth if one's ego is allowed in, the same is true of all prayer.  A self conscious prayer will be by definition focused on the self and not upon things higher.  I think more properly we ought to think of prayer as opening ourselves up to God and not of talking to him. 

        Aristotle believed that the highest form of happiness, the highest good, was "eudaimonia" which he believed was the practicing of virtue. The highest of virtues is that of the mind, and therefore the highest of human flourishing and happiness is to contemplate the highest of things; what is that if not to dwell in the presence of God? This highest good of the Greeks is no different than that of the Christians call "To Glorify God and enjoy him forever". 

         Although they were Pagan, when Plato and Aristotle came together, in love, to search for truth they were praying and doing so well. The highest form of worship, the highest form of human action, the highest form of prayer, the chief end of man, the pinnacle of our existence is to come to know and love God. 

        Plato did not write his Republic a solo discourse but between friends, so too does the Bible not tell Christians "when you alone are in my name, I am there also", the calling of the Gospel and advice of the Greeks is to have friends and to look upwards together. Think about it, what is true friendship if not the shared attention between a common good?

        So find some friends and care enough to look up together.