Growing up in Japan, I saw people putting their hands together, bowing slightly, with their eyes closed, in front of a shrine or a temple. It was very clear they were praying. And when I lived in India, I saw people sitting on street corners, hands together, meditating. The temperature was probably in the upper 90s or even 100s, and the weather was humid. But the faces I remember were filled with calm and peace.
Just what is it about prayer that is so universal and uniting? We live in a fascinating era in which the effects of prayer are studied, and indeed, valued. And interestingly enough, no particular religion, race, or group of people seems to have a monopoly on prayer.
But how many people actually turn to God for physical healing, even though Jesus taught and proved that this is possible? Jesus, in his prayers, must have gained an undisturbed state of mind, a state of mind that stayed with him throughout the day. So, for example, when he encountered a blind man, sitting by the roadside at Jericho, Jesus already was in a peaceful, healing state of mind.
