For instance, Jews pray three times a day, in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Muslims pray five times a day, before sunrise, after the sun begins to decline from its zenith, mid afternoon, just after sunset, and at night. Christians don’t have a set time other than on the Sabbath, although some people say morning devotionals or bedtime prayers. Yet, Jesus taught to “pray ceaselessly,” or all the time.

Buddhists pray in a different manner than other religions, chanting mantras and participating in devotional meditation practices. Prayer and meditation practices vary considerably from one branch of Buddhism to another, with some gathering once and others gathering twice a day to pray, chant or mediate. Yet, in Tibet, prayer goes on most of the time.

For those of us who want to connect with God, to have a spiritual experience, or to have a spiritual practice, prayer serves as the foundation for almost all other practices and rituals. However, prayer times and practices don’t have to be long. You can pray as you wake up in the morning, as we do in Judaism, thanking God for another day of life and for your body parts all working and for your soul being returned to your body once again after a night of exploring the nonphysical world. Or you can say a prayer at night as the Christians and Jews do prior to bed. Christians often pray that their soul be kept safe while they sleep. Jews recite the Sh’ma, their most sacred prayer, and also review the day asking for forgiveness for any wrong doings.

Or you can find another time to pray. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov suggested walking in the fields and talking to God like a friend, pouring out whatever was on your mind and in your heart. Sometimes I do this while on a walk or a bike ride.

You can pray during meditation. Pray first–the talking to God “part” of your practice–and then meditate–the listening to God “part.”

You can pray for a moment before you begin your work, prior to driving your car, as you leave your house, at 12 noon, at 3 p.m.. Or take on the practice of the religion of your birth. Put on teffillin in the morning  if you are Jewish (and whether you are a man or a woman). Get a prayer rug and use it five times a day if you are Muslim. Try praying even once a day if you are Christian. Go to a temple and participate in a chanting service if you are a Buddhist.

You choose the time, the place, and the frequency. But choose a time and a place to take time our for God daily. If you don’t, you and God will never form a relationship.

Remember, quality time connecting with God doesn’t have to mean an hour spent praying. Five or 10 minutes of prayer with an honest intent to connect will suffice. It’s all in the intent and the consistency. That’s why all these religious traditions created these prayer practices–to create consistency. To make sure people stopped and remembered God often.

Now, stop…remember…take time out for God. Make time for God.

My friend Reb Yitzi Miller told me basically the same thing the other day. He said he doesn’t ever refer to the act of converting as an actual conversion. He calls it an affirmation of Judaism. He doesn’t have conversion students, therefore, but affirmation students.

I suppose much like a b’nei mitzvah student (a teen studying for a bar or bat mitzvah), these people simply are learning what they need to learn about Judaism before saying, “Count me in as a Jew.”

If you think about it, a large difference exists between the two words “conversion” and “affirmation.” When someone converts, we assume that person is choosing to become a follower of one religion rather than another; they are becoming, for example, a Jew rather than a Christian. However, when we affirm something, we basically acknowledge it to be true. And therein lies the point.

When a person makes an affirmation of Judaism, they acknowledge that they were born with a Jewish soul to begin with. In other words, when they came into this world, their physical form may have been raised as a Christian, a Muslim or a Hindu, but the soul housed in that body actually was Jewish all along.

For this reason, at a deep, inner level, the person’s soul felt pulled towards Judaism, and, in the end, the physical form-the person-chose to covert to Judaism. In that process, the person makes an affirmation of Judaism. He or she affirms his or her Jewish nature.

Pretty cool, huh? Now you might dispute this as a bunch of Jewish malarkey. You might point out that many people who have affirmed Judaism (converted) have done so because, for instance, they married a Jewish partner. I’d argue that their soul drew them to that Jewish partner. It felt comfortable with another Jewish soul.

The other day, I found proof (not that I needed any) that Jewish souls exist in non-Jewish bodies. I met Dalana Castrell. She informed me that despite her non-Jewish upbringing and heritage, she dreams in Hebrew and paints Jewish symbols. She has a deep desire to learn about Judaism, and she calls God, Ha Shem, which means The Name. (Since observant Jews do not speak the name of God, this is the name they use.) If ever a Jewish soul existed, this she possesses one.

Dalana was born in South America and grew up in Queens, NY. There are a lot of Jews in Queens. Maybe her soul pushed her towards an area of the world with more Jews… She started dreaming in Hebrew, however, while on the Island of Bermuda. She told me, “I lived on estate called Southlands. This is where I started to paint my dreams; the symbols became the thread in the Image. The first series of work was called ‘Southlands the Passage.’”

Dalana’s art, which she calls ”Ionic Futurism,” feels and looks to me as if it flows out of a Jewish soul. I see Jewish stars, the Torah, a menorah, rebbes, and the like.

(For the life of me, I could not get a Jewish-themed piece to post here nor could I find examples of her Jewish-themed work, which I have seen, on line, since her website is down. However, you can see some of her other work here.)

When I speak to her, I get the sense that she is, indeed, Jewish, although she isn’t. We feel like kindred spirits.

If you see her in Great Bear Coffee in Los Gatos, which is where I met her, say, “Shalom.” She’ll say, “Shalom,” right back without batting an eye.

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