Ways to help us see ourselves and our children as whole beings who pray with our bodies.

The moment is holy. Bodies are filled with energy and purposeful movement as we speak the words Jesus taught us and move in ways that demonstrate those words.
Moments earlier my Sunday school class of 7- and 8-year-olds was scattered about the room in pairs trying to come up with movements or postures to interpret the segment of the Lord’s Prayer written on the slip of paper in front of them. Some giggle and roll their eyes while others furrow their brows in determination.

I’m surprised by the attentiveness each child gives to the exercise. Several ask questions that show they clearly want to understand the meaning behind the words Jesus gave us. As we come back together, the children listen and watch as each pair teaches the movement that will accompany these important words. Then we pray.

Arms stretch heavenward, bodies bow forward, knees hit the carpet. The moment is holy as hearts, minds and bodies are directed toward the One who created us and loves us in our entirety.

In many churches the giggles and liveliness of children is seen in a negative light as adults get frustrated with squirming bodies and inappropriate noise during times of worship, prayer and silence. Children have been seen as a hindrance to adults who are attempting to focus their attention on God. However, there has been an increased recognition that children in our society have an intense yearning for silence and meditation (see Real Kids Real Faith by Karen Marie Yust). There is also a growing understanding that children have the capacity to enter the meditative silence of various spiritual practices and often with greater ease than some adults. The keys to helping children enter these practices are creating space and providing them with the tools and understanding necessary to connect with God in prayer.

Many prayer practices are being recommended for children, for example: centering prayer, guided meditation, journaling, listening prayer, the examen and mindfulness. Some educators, such as Ivy Beckwith, have explored the benefits for children of adding deep breathing to their prayers in order to develop a rhythm for centering prayer, or using a prayer rope to occupy their hands and minds as they engage in the Jesus prayer (see Formational Children’s Ministry by Ivy Beckwith).

However, as I consider the ways we engage children in prayer, I wonder if we haven’t fully explored the beauty and energy that might come with using the body more fully as we enter into prayer with children, who spend so much of their time sitting at desks, in front of computers or TVs, or engaged in play that is aggressive or violent. Many of the prayer practices mentioned above are designed to help the child to become calm, relaxed, centered and still, all wonderful and necessary. Yet we can channel the energy of the child in more active ways as well.

Prayer practices that engage the body as well as the mind or soul help us understand ourselves as whole beings. The division of spirit and body is a common understanding in Christianity in the West. We have been influenced by Platonic thought, which sees body and soul as separate and often in opposition (see Just Love by Margaret A. Farley). An emphasis on the distinctness of body and soul inevitably leads to one aspect seen as superior. In the West, “the soul has been persistently valued over the body, the intellect over emotions, the will over bodily needs and desires” (Farley).

As we work to create a consistent Christian ethic in all areas of our lives (work, play, sexuality, relationships, justice issues), we see this separation of body and soul as like the separation of our beliefs from our actions. And the valuing of soul over body has also created a body-negative culture in North America, where bodies are seen as “beasts of burden” that need to be starved into thinness or whipped into shape (see Praying with Body and Soul by Jane E. Vennard).

If we understand our bodies and the actions of our bodies to be separate from the beliefs we hold, then we open ourselves to living lives of contradiction. Often those contradictions can go unnoticed. But when we see ourselves as whole beings, or what Farley calls “inspirited bodies, embodied spirits,” then the contradictions create tension within us that is harder to ignore.

Prayer practices that involve our whole beings shape us ethically. When we pray for others in ways that involve open postures and caring gestures, we feel tension when our actions reject others or respond to them with hostility. For example, if we walk through a struggling neighborhood with children, laying hands on buildings or sidewalks in prayer, will they be able to walk past the people in those neighborhoods with indifference, or will they be moved to action because their bodies have already engaged in caring gestures in that space?

In learning to see ourselves as whole beings, we need to learn to see our bodies in a different light. Consumerism and our culture’s obsession with youth and beauty have contributed to body negativity, and the affects on young children, especially girls. Vennard writes about “befriending the body” as a way of finding a more “balanced approach to our embodiment.” As we become friends with our bodies, we can thank God for the body given to us, consider our life a gift, make a commitment to care for that gift and consider the mystery of our bodies as well as the beauty and mystery of other bodies.

Often our discomfort with our bodies has made us reluctant to consider issues of sexuality, aging or illness in our congregations. As we are more willing to embrace ourselves as whole beings before God, perhaps we will be more able to bring all of ourselves to living the Christian life. This is not about making our bodies the center of our faith or worshipping our bodies but about finding balance.

As we become friends with our bodies, we may allow our bodies to teach us how to pray. We often think our minds or spirits are in charge of our bodies, yet our bodies can also form our beliefs and emotions. Listening carefully to our breathing or feeling our pulse can remind us of the mystery of life. It can connect us as embodied creatures to the rest of creation or to our Creator. Kneeling or lying prostrate may evoke prayers of confession, and stretching our arms wide open may help us feel gratitude and praise. And placing our bodies in positions we don’t usually think of as prayerful allows us to listen to God in new ways. Such prayers can be done in groups or by ourselves, and they help us pray in different spaces and at different times. When we learn to hear God in the movements of our bodies, then it’s possible for many of our daily actions to become prayer.

We have a tremendous opportunity to begin such a holistic formation with even young children. Children love to use their bodies in creative ways and are often eager to make connections between what they have heard and what their bodies can do. Here are some suggestions of how we may more fully incorporate our bodies when guiding and praying with children:

• When listening to a Bible story, ask the children to act out parts of the story, pose their bodies to show a particular scene or embody the emotions of one of the characters.

• Have the class come up with different motions for the Lord’s Prayer or for various prayer movements, such as confession, intercession, praise, lament and thanksgiving.

• Encourage children to pray with music and movement as a way of expressing joy or lament. For children who are more timid or not used to dancing, provide each child with a scarf or ribbon to help them get started.

• Incorporate other items into prayers, such as a prayer rope, a sand tray or finger paint.

• Practice laying on of hands.

• Take a prayer walk and incorporate different postures in your prayers.

From this short list we can see there are many options available to us as we seek to nurture children as whole beings. However, when beginning these practices with children, we must be aware of the danger of simply creating another set of activities to keep children busy. There is a difference between bending and stretching and using postures for confession and praise. It is the responsibility of those who nurture and guide children to help them enter a contemplative space, whether quiet and reflective or energetic and joyful, in order to create a space where it is possible to meet God. Taking this responsibility seriously means recognizing we cannot guide another into a space we cannot go ourselves. If we as caregivers cannot enter holy spaces in our own lives, we will struggle to guide the children who so often imitate us.

As we seek to form the children in our congregations, let’s be curious about how we may direct their energy in ways that encourage them to see themselves as whole beings and bring themselves wholly before God. And let’s recognize that our starting point is not planning activities but our own spiritual formation.

Carrie Martens is a recent graduate of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.