The following 3 excerpts were discovered in 2 different texts about prayer. They share an affinity. Each seems to respond adequately to the others; 'adequate' not in the sense of fullness and completion but permitting enough sufficiency to allow mystery and what lies unspoken, to be left open to the reader, hopefully to explore the terrain on her own terms.
1.
When a doctoral student at Princeton asked, 'What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?' Albert Einstein replied, 'Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer.'
2.
Inspector: And you Rabbi? Which side are you on? The question or the answers?
Rabbit: I am on the side of prayer.
Inspector: And what is prayer; question or answer?
Rabbi: Both. Question for whoever believes he has found an answer. Answer for whoever struggles with the question.
From the play, Zalmen or The Madness of God by Elie Wiesel
3.
For prayer exists, no question about that. It is the peculiarly human response to the fact of this endless mystery of bliss and brutality, impersonal might and lyric intimacy that composes our experience of life.
Patricia Hampl
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