Praying with Our Hands: 21 Practices of Embodied Prayer from the World's Spiritual Traditions

A spiritual guidebook for bringing prayer into our bodies

The power of words is nowhere more evident than when we use them to pray, but prayer is also the place where we most often come up against the limitations of words. In this intriguing book of reflections and accompanying photographs, we see how our bodies, in particular our hands, can give meaning to our prayers in a way that words alone cannot.

Here are twenty-one simple ways of using our hands to speak to God, presented in word and image. These spiritual practices are from a broad range of religious traditions―from Anglican to Sufi, from Buddhist to Shaker. Some may be familiar, some new; all demonstrate the universal importance people of all faith traditions have given to embodied prayer. They teach us to experience the unique spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pray with our hands.

Jon M. Sweeney is an author and editor recognized for his ability to communicate religious ideas and history in uncomplicated language. He is also the author of The St. Francis Prayer Book and editor of The Road to Assisi: The Essential Biography of St. Francis, a Literary Guild, Crossings, and History Book Club selection. He was the cofounder and editor-in-chief of Skylight Paths Publishing for several years before joining Paraclete Press as associate publisher. He lives in Vermont with his wife and their two children.

Jennifer J. Wilson is a documentary photographer working in the Boston area, capturing images of people where they worship and where they live. Her work has appeared in the First Expressions show in Boston and in other exhibits.