Praying: The Rituals of Faith

Praying is the second in a series of books that offer Christians a new way of understanding what it means to live and worship among America's many faiths, and introduces them to the religions that make up the American neighborhood. Praying will explore public, family, and individual worship in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Baha'i, Zoroastrianism, American indigenous spiritualities, Chinese spiritualities (Confucianism, Taoism), Shinto, and Afro-Caribbean religions. Praying answers and discusses questions such as these:

• How does your religion understand/measure the passage of time: daily, weekly, annually, over the course of a lifetime?
• What is the vocabulary of ritual and practice in your religion? (e.g., worship, prayer, meditation, pilgrimage, feasting and fasting)
• Is there a distinction between public and private/individual worship/practice in your religion?
• What are this religion's most distinctive practices? What makes them so significant?
  Praying includes a quick guide to each religion, a glossary, and recommended reading.

Lucinda Mosher is the author of two books in the Faith in the Neighborhood series, Belonging and Praying. She holds a Th.D. from General Theological Seminary, and teaches extensively in universities, seminaries, and parishes about world religions and inter-religious relations. She lives in northeast Florida.