"You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying."
                                T. S. Eliot

I did not grow up in a faith tradition that regularly would kneel to pray. I have vague memories of kneeling at my bedside as a child…now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Frankly that prayer frightened me a bit. My soul seemed something too precious, too much a part of me to give away. But my skinny little knees bored into the floorboards of my bedroom as I repeated this prayer I had been taught, looking I imagine, like a Norman Rockwell painting with my pigtails and flowered pajamas.

Because I didn’t grow up as a ‘kneeler’, I am always fascinated by traditions where this practice is natural, expected, sometimes even cavalier. I have attended many a mass where I, firmly planted in my pew, watched as those kneeling scratched their heads, looked up at the ceiling, turned to look at who was coming down the aisle.The somewhat flippant kneeling seemed wrong to me.I am reminded of those pilgrims who visit holy places or walk labyrinths in sacred sites, who fall to their knees and walk the last few steps to their destination in this position. Their arrival on bended knee is a mark of their humility, their penance, their praise.

Much of life, I believe, calls for kneeling. The poet Mary Oliver, writes: I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass. As I survey this last week, there are many moments where kneeling was called for…..the amazing brilliant red-orange of the hibiscus blooming in our house thumbing its petals at the frigid temperatures…..the sunrise I am watching right this minute coming up over the lake….the baby whose face I touched on Sunday, peach-fuzz and bright, welcoming eyes….the sound of my son’s music making, a gift he does not fully realize is his……the stories of those who have traveled far and near to walk daily with God. So many opportunities to kneel, it is a wonder that I can stay upright.

Today, this very day, where might you kneel to offer honor, praise, gratitude, awe?