Saying Grace

Norman Rockwell’s painting “Saving Grace” portrays a boy and an older woman (presumably the boy’s grandmother) praying over their food as two young men watch them, seemingly with some interest.

In my view, this painting leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

First of all, is this a verbal prayer or are the boy and the woman simply bowing their heads and praying silently?

What exactly are the two observers thinking? Do they feel respect or contempt for this act of public prayer?

Are the boy and the woman completely comfortable offering a prayer over food in a cafe? Are they just praying to God or are they trying to make a point to those who are around them?

I honestly don’t know the answers to those questions and I’m not sure if the painter had strong opinions about how those questions should be answered.

Last week in a priesthood lesson at church, our teacher had us read Doctrine and Covenants 19:28, which reads:

And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.

As I pondered this passage, and thought about what modes of public prayer might be appropriate or inappropriate, this Norman Rockwell painting came to mind.

It occurs to me that there are different kinds of “public” when it comes to public prayer. The line between private and public prayer might not always be so easily defineable – especially if a person simply defines “public” as meaning “in front of other people.” From that vantage-point, a private prayer might become “public” the moment another person begins to observe what is happening. For example, in the home, when a child sees or overhears his father or mother offering private prayers – then the prayer isn’t so private after all.

But usually the word “public” connotes a place outside the home, where people are congregated in groups.

There are, of course, public places and events where prayer is expected – for example, the vocal prayers that routinely occur in front of church congregations. There are often prayers at high school or university graduation ceremonies. There are prayers at some political events and public ceremonies. There are prayers offered by some coaches and teams before they play games – at least that is the impression I’ve gotten from watching some sports movies.

Many public prayers happen due to community or national traditions. Sometimes at important events, pastors or leaders from a variety of congregations or religions are given the opportunity to pray publicly – giving an ecumenical feeling to things.

However, returning to the cafe/restaurant example portrayed in the paining by Norman Rockwell, there are times and places where public prayer is unexpected. In these situations, public prayer is often the result of individual choice – a completely voluntary event for those participating in the prayer – but perhaps not so voluntary for those who are sitting nearby.

On a few occasions I’ve heard some people praying, rather loudly, on the New York City subways.

One might argue that observers are not participating in the prayer. Still, there is, I think, very much a sense that those who are praying are imposing something – they are temporarily claiming or sanctifying a public place as a prayer space. This might make some people uncomfortable – but it isn’t really clear to me that any harm is done.

So I’m wondering about reader experiences with public prayer – positive and negative. Here are some questions:

1) How strictly are your private prayers distinguishable from your public prayers? When you pray privately, do you pray out loud? Do you ever allow a spouse or children to overhear your private prayers? If you pray out loud when other people are around, are you aware when you are being observed or do you go into “a zone” so to speak?

2) Would you ever offer up a prayer over food you have ordered in a restaurant? Sometimes? Always? Never? If you offer a prayer over food in a public place, is it “out loud” or silent?

3) Public prayers may happen in a wide variety of contexts, some expected and some expected. How do you feel, in general, about public prayers? Are there places where you think public prayers should be offered? Are there places you feel public prayers should not be offered? How do you distinguish between times when public prayers are appropriate and inappropriate?

4) Apart from a restaurant praying-over-the-food situation – have you ever prayed publicly in a setting or event that is predominantly attended by non-LDS people? What was the situation and why were you offering a public prayer? How did you feel about the experience?

These are just some questions that occurred to me as I was putting the post together. If you have additional questions or pertinent thoughts unrelated to these questions, please feel free to add them in the comments.