Report to Creator requires opening up

Larry Gruman

July 24, 2010

Prayer. It is a conversation with God, a statement of gratitude, a request for the needs of my life and an expression of concern for others.

I thought I had a clear idea of the place of prayer in my life. Then, one day, a friend told me that his prayers were made as a “report to the Creator.” I wasn’t sure what he meant, so he explained.

“I think I owe an account of my being to the one who brought me into being. These years I have lived are not my doing — they are gifts, and I feel the need to report what I am doing with them. How am I using my skills? Am I growing in my faith? Am I living up to my commitments? What kind of model am I to my children? Am I able to become a better person? The Creator may know all about me, but I feel a need to check in.

“Basically, it is a report, opening up all the closed doors of my life, stating openly and honestly what my successes and failures have been, what my fears and joys are, what goals urge me on. I think the Creator deserves this kind of report.

“But more than that, I’m reporting to the Creator, not my Creator; that is to say, the one who created every other human being along with the complex world we live in. How am I doing with compassion toward them? How about my effort toward justice and peace? Am I making progress there?”

This approach opened up a new dimension of prayer for me. No argument about the existence of God, no struggle over whether the Creator answers prayers, no theological debates. It demands an opening up of myself in ways that may be uncomfortable. It means facing up to my faults, but still cherishing my successes. It calls for a candid statement of my fears and hopes.

For some people, this kind of prayer is fantasy. They see it as theological poetry, an effort they can easily ignore. Still, there is a hunger to reach beyond ourselves to our origins, to our purpose in life.

As the atheist poet Katherine Mansfield wrote, “The world is so majestic and so beautiful, I want to give thanks to someone — but to whom?” The atheist and the agnostic are still haunted by the mystery of our origins, still probing for an answer to the question of why we are here.

Every one of the world’s religions points to a creator God who launches us into being; and each lifts up some person, a Mohammed or a Christ or a Buddha, who points the way to that Creator. No matter which religion we pursue, our highest effort is to conceive of a Creator, and we reach toward that Creator in prayer.

Whoever we are, I believe we want that reach. Call it prayer, or reflection, or what you will; consider it a report to the Creator.

Larry Gruman is a member of Central Presbyterian Church in Eugene. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and the world. For more information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 541-344-0430.