Prayer on Pinterest

This week we're looking at prayer in digital media, and I guess I haven't thought about what prayer looks like digitally with any kind of conviction. So what did I do to familiarize myself with it apart from the videos and reading this week? Look at Pinterest. Woo!

What I found was a crazy huge variety of images of prayer across cultures and religions. Prayer that was spiritual, corporate, Muslim, Catholic, directed at youth, business people, and adults, and all manner in between. It seems like prayer not only has a presence online, but a profound one!

Some of the images especially evoke important pieces of prayer that I feel are even more necessary in prayer in the digital community.

This photograph is incredibly striking to me even without much context (because there isn't any given on it's original website here), because it reminds me that digital prayer is public, communal prayer. The words and images one might use are seen by both the intended and unintended audiences, and we must be cautious and calculated with what we use. Thankfully, there are great things like "drafts," spell check, and common sense to aid us. While we may choose to use universal language or say a blessing instead of a prayer, or generalize the religion that the prayer derives from, it's not often the norm as far as I have seen.

All over the internet you can find photos of these beautiful prayer flags, and it's no surprise because their colors are incredibly attractive to the eye. Now it was hard finding a link via Pinterest with a source, but this photo is from Mexicali Blues Blog where they give a little insight to the history of these flags. Prayer flags are hung outside in the wind so that they may spread the prayers of compassion, hope, peace and the like on the breeze throughout the world. I can't say I know all that much, but what I think is important to remember is that like the prayer flags themselves, our prayers in the digital world are prayers often put out for the benefit of the people that will see them. These are prayers in the world and for the world, and our language should match.

I'm including this final image because it sums up how intimate our prayers can be. This is a very vertical prayer, me and God, but it works in a digital world because it is simple enough that it applies in a multitude of situations and for many people. These are the prayers of a digital era.