Matthew Arends - Prayer II

The idea of decentering yourself when praying is a very interesting concept. In many ways I think that decentering is a foreign concept to most people in todays society, in America for sure. However, I think that it is not only necessary for us to do when we pray (meditate, commune with god, ect.) but can also be beneficial for us as a people to decenter ourselves when dealing with each other. I'm reminded of Paul Tripp who discusses properly dealing with other people (particularlly in hard times) relies on four things, Love, Know, Speak, and Do.  However, for people to use these four things to truly commune with the one struggling, you have to decenter yourself and actually care about the other, find out what is going on beneath the surface, speak wise words into their lives, and help them do what they need done. This in many ways is what I believe Benson and Wirzba were trying to say when discussing prayer.