Okay, I admit to a continuous inner monologue that ceases only when something from the outside interrupts it. This may be grounds for being committed, or it may be normal human behavior. The rule of thumb when I studied psychology was that talking to yourself is okay, it’s when you start answering yourself that you need to be worried. Zen, of course, is incomprehensible to me.
I’ve spent a significant portion of my life trying to theologize, a subject matter which vainly attempts to encompass the infinite. Alfred North Whitehead’s concept of panentheism has led me to wonder if God (for lack of any better term) has the ability to “eavesdrop” on these inner thoughts. Whether or not God has any desire to do such a thing is a separate matter. But if we allow for the possibility, then does this introspection constitute prayer?
One of the things that impressed Francis Asbury about the Methodists was the ability to pray without a book, a rather remarkable contrast to the Anglican Book of Prayer that was central to the liturgy of the day. History is replete with examples dating back to the dawn of civilization—and before—of how prayer was to be conducted and what purpose it served in the scheme of things.
It all leaves me wondering whether or not I am really alone with my thoughts. If I am, then it’s really no big deal. But if I’m not, the old admonition of being careful what you pray for takes on a whole new meaning.
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