what is a colorburst prayer? 

 
A Colorburst Prayer is first and foremost, a prayer.

I see a prayer as being more than just something that is said at morning, at bedtime, or at a church, or rote-memorized.  Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, said that one's whole life should be a prayer, that work done in the right spirit is worship.  And so that's where I start.

I see a prayer being a means of communing with God (though one may feel more comfortable referencing the the Divine as  the God and Goddess, the Great Spirit, a Higher Power, the Universe or by other names or images).  I guess when I pray to God, I check in and talk about how I'm doing, how my day went, what I want, what I dream of, what makes me laugh, what bothers, me, what I fear, where I'm struggling, and what I'm learning.

I see this site being the same thing, with the exception that I'm letting you listen in on some of the conversation.

As such, A Colorburst Prayer is about my life living in a co-op house, what that's like, and how I try to achieve my dream of living in community and bringing it about all around me.  It's about living simply and feeling rich with less, which I'm beginning to realize is one of my life's missions and purposes.  It is also my ever-evolving relationship with the Baha'i Faith and with God.  A Colorburst Prayer is also about life and the interesting little details of it, because I find myself awakening more and more to just how fascinating life can be when I live in the now, tuned in with what is surrounding me.  It's also about humor because I find again and again that God has an extremely hilarious sense of humor. 

One of the reasons I decided to name this blog “A Colorburst Prayer” is to paint a picture of my conception of what God is all about.  A lot of people are uncomfortable with the notion of God because of misguided religious zealots either committing heinous acts supposedly in God's name, or putting restrictions on people's conceptions of God and restrictions on thought and free will in general. 

The God I worship is bigger than any religion or spiritual organization, and as such continually confounds human beings by walking through walls that they try to put around Him.  I worship the Creator who created the sound of a bird's fluttering wings, the chorus of songbirds greeting the listener who awakens at dawn, the sound of rushing water, the shimmering blue hue of a lake when the sunlight hits it just right, the incredible 3-D views of the verdant hills of Wisconsin, and the desert-brush-dotted valleys and mountains of New Mexico, painted sunsets, the smell of wild summer herbs in an open field, bright colors,  strange coincidences, tough lessons, unexpected blessings, and creative experiences I could not possibly have conjured in my own mind.

Days after deciding upon the name, I realized that A Colorburst Prayer also aptly describes an experience I had shortly before my declaration as a Baha'i.  On 18 October 2007, I decided to offer my first Baha'i daily prayer on the shores of Lake Monona.  I knew of a secluded spot where I would have privacy.  It had been a very windy day with severe storms threatening, and it had rained a little right before I'd left work.  As I waited for the bus, I watched the low dark clouds gallop overhead like a herd of wild horses, and I feared that it might storm heavily right as I tried to offer my prayer.  But as the bus turned to cross the freeway, I suddenly saw this bright burst of color break through the clouds.  It was a rainbow, small, and confined to just the break in the clouds, but brighter than any rainbow I'd ever seen.    When I got off the bus and walked towards the lake,  I found myself walking towards the rainbow.  It moved to the east and disappeared before I got to the lake, but at that point, Lake Monona opened to me in a spectacular fashion, the waters shining with a beautiful luminescence under the rolling storm clouds.  It was a powerful spiritual experience, and one outside the realm of the spiritual path that I was leaving behind.  I announced my departure from my previous spiritual path on this blog three days later.

This blog was then called the Different Drummer Soundtrack.  I started it in December 2005. On 7 July 2008,  I overhauled it, changing the design and changing the name to A Colorburst Prayer. 

In short, I want to put into A Colorburst Prayer my highest hopes, my highest ideals, and my best concepts of beauty and creativity.  I hope you enjoy it.