A Bead And An [Interfaith] Prayer

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rebariley/2014/08/a-bead-and-an-interfaith-prayer/

August 11, 2014 by Reba Riley



This sweet little book arrived in my mail the week I was working on final memoir edits. Its arrival wasn’t only significant because all authors could use prayer beads during final edits–though I could argue this point!—but because throughout my journey through thirty religions before I turned thirty, I saw prayer beads everywhere.

I don’t know how I survived nearly three decades of life thinking that only Catholics used prayer beads, but I was both surprised and pleased to discover the japa mala (108 beads–Hinduism, Buddhism), misbaḥah (99 or 33 beads–Islam), and sikh mala (108 beads–Sikhism). The Catholics had the rosary, of course, and the Eastern Orthodox Church used a knotted prayer rope. Some of my Baha’i friends used a strand of 95 prayer beads, and I even met a Wiccan Priestess who carried a homemade set in her purse!

I always found myself a little jealous as I watched the devout grasp each smooth bead in contemplation. The practice looked so peaceful, as if one could actively move faith with their fingers. Each bead seemed a place to rest a worry. It reminded me of a miniature version of walking a labyrinth, where you can leave what troubles you at the center when you walk out.

Near the end of my 30 religions project, I decided I wanted my own set of prayer beads. But after I searching “interfaith prayer beads” to no avail (though you can now find a set here), I decided I would have to make my own. I bought silver- pressed cross for the project…and promptly forgot about it. For two years and three months the cross lived at the bottom of my jewelry box, the idea of interfaith prayer beads all but abandoned.

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