The Pondering Prayer

Maria Savage, who is graduating in August from the Wisdom Tree Collective program, is a spiritual seeker whose path began in childhood at her Southern Baptist church in rural Mississippi.

“I was there three times a week, witnessed on Saturdays, and played the piano on Sundays,” she says. “In between I memorized countless passages of scripture.” Always a discerning learner, she hit a roadblock early: “I knew all the Chinese people were not going to hell. That just wasn’t right,” she remembers. So the questions—and the quest—began.

Maria discovered transcendental meditation in her twenties s and has stayed with meditation ever since. She explored ancient spiritual practices and read widely. Learning from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist traditions has been important to Maria. More recently, she is also finding Wisdom in dreams and synchronicity. As Maria experiences the increasing spaciousness of the mystery of Presence, she finds her own consciousness widening as well.

“Being truly present and receptive is so much of my practice. I keep waking up!”

Maria found herself creating a meditative prayer. I asked if she would be willing to share it with the Wisdom Tree Collective as it is simple, profound, and expansive. She graciously agreed. Here’s her description:

"One of my responses [to a spiritual question] was to offer what I call a pondering prayer, a wordless outpouring of my spirit. First, I open to the sense of the tiny container I call myself expanding beyond the boundaries of my simple existence. I then imagine this expansive notion of myself merging with a greater Omnipotent Unknown. This reaching into the cosmos gives me access to Whatever Is There. My process afterward is to wait, attentively watching for movement within my world."

Such attentive waiting is a lifelong practice, a habit of mind, and a deep, dynamic trust. In asking Maria to share it, I hope others in our community may find the living spaciousness within and beyond the self that brings us into relationship with the great Oneness.