12.15.2005
P.S. to Amen
Reflecting on things since my last post, I’ve had an interesting thought strike me on more than one occasion. Perhaps the person who offers a prayer says “amen” for the same reason everyone else does—to express agreement. This would make sense if prayers are meant to be guided by the Holy Spirit, which would guarantee an accordance with God’s will. Thus, it would make sense to say “amen,” even for the one saying the prayer—not because we’re agreeing with ourselves (which would make the “amen” redundant), but because we concur with the inspired direction from God. What do you think?
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4 comments:
"You fixed it!"
Ok I guess I should say you solved it,but I was thinking of My Big Fat Greek Wedding..with the cake...
Anyway, sorry, I'm not feeling well. I think that makes a lot of sense.
My suggestion is that perhaps by saying "amen," a person giving a prayer symbollically subjects him/herself to God's will. To use the translation you provided in my last post, it would be as though we are saying "so let it be" to God's will, which is given us by the Holy Spirit as we pray (which is probably debatable anyway).
This, of course, is purely meant to be an interesting thought, nothing more. I'm very comfortable with "amen" being a somewhat redundant way of closing our prayers, basically saying, "please let these things be" (although that's the point of the prayer all along). But I thought the notion of subjecting ourselves to God's will by saying "amen" was a neat thought. This should be our goal regardless, so it's not something I'm concerned about in a real sense.
Very interesting thought. I've heard the term amen used almost the same as Halleluja- almost like a praise, even if it is said as an agreement. In that sense, amen does become redundant or lose it's meaning and I like the meaning you put back into it.
I would like to think that I try to follow what the spirit dictates and to listen to God's will. So I like the thought of ending my prayer with amen as showing my willingness to listen rather than just a word I was taught to end my prayers with.
On a side note, have you ever been in a meeting and NOT felt like saying amen to someone else's prayer? Maybe it didn't feel sincere or you didn't agree with them or even just let your thoughts wander so you don't know what you're saying amen to? I can't think of a particular instance, but it seems like maybe I have felt that way before. And it's kind of funny that I would feel awkward not saying amen. Aren't you supposed to just say it? But couldn't it be a bit more significant than that?
I realize it's August of 2007, but I am enjoying ambling through these blogs and comments today. And so...my comment is...saying Amen to signify that we accept all things as according to the will of the Lord, is a beautiful idea. It puts the perfect finish on our prayers. I am really happy to discover all your ideas here, and prayer for me will have taken on a richer significance from now on by having this understanding of the last word, uttered or unexpressed. Good blog. Thanks
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