James Talarico

My pastor always told me growing up that religious symbols are like aspirin.

In order to work, they have to dissolve.

They point beyond themselves.

If you get lost in the symbols, if you get lost in the words, you're missing the reality that we're all trying to describe and talk about.

What is your relationship to prayer?

Prayer is essential for me.

I start out every morning in prayer.

Sometimes it's silent prayer, which to me is probably the most helpful.

Oftentimes those are just prayers of gratitude that God woke me up this morning, that I have health, that I have my family, that I have my friends, that I get to do a job I really care about, making an impact.

that gratitude to me just it checks the worst parts of myself every morning and then almost every morning i'll say the lord's prayer aloud and that's a different experience um it's much more of a ritual but rituals are are also a gift it's a rhythm that you're getting back in touch with um a prayer that's been said for 2 000 years in our tradition and that prayer in particular

reminds me about the work that we have in front of us because, you know, religion without works, faith without works is dead.

Well, you know, sometimes a ritual, you're not ready to feel it, but part of the ritual, whether it's the Lord's Prayer, whether it's a communion on a Sunday, part of that is to get you into that mode even when you're not feeling it.

Yeah.

One of my favorite books of all time is The Sabbath by Rabbi Heschel.

Yeah, one of mine too.

And to me, prayer is almost like the Sabbath breaking in throughout the week.

You know, in that book, he describes that throughout the week, we're all concerned about our status and our jobs and our to-do lists.

And the Sabbath is when you, I think he describes it as glimpsing eternity.

And to me, that's a little bit of what prayer is for a few minutes in the morning or throughout the day.

It is trying to touch eternity, even as you're trapped in a finite world.