Anglican leader says praying like sunbathing

Tue Oct 18,11:38 AM ET: The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told worshippers to compare praying to sunbathing, except that it is soaking in the light of God.

Williams, the spiritual leader of the 77-million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, said on a BBC radio programme that many people had trouble praying and thought it was a matter of "generally getting your act together".

He said worshippers struggling to pray would be better off comparing praying to lying on a beach.

They should stop trying too hard and just be where the light can reach them -- in this case the light of God.

Williams admitted he was not a keen sunbather but there was something about doing it that revealed more about the experience of prayer than a slew of religious jargon.

"When you're lying on the beach or under the lamp, something is happening, something that has nothing to do with how you feel or how hard you're trying," he said.

"You're not going to get a better tan by screwing up your eyes and concentrating. You give the time, and that's it.

"All you have to do is turn up. And then things change, at their own pace. You simply have to be there where the light can get at you."

An interesting metaphor, but I still don’t think you can top the time-tested words of the Fathers on prayer. I do, however, very much like his comment that when one prays, “something is happening, something that has nothing to do with how you feel or how hard you're trying.”