When we set aside a prayer place or altar at home, we affirm our desire for faithfulness in our spiritual practice. An area with calm colors and shapes - one holding items (journals, shells, symbols, candles, or other sacred objects) to support praying - can even lead us into quiet.
Yet I find an advantage in carrying a basket that holds items I would otherwise put in a prayer place. A prayer basket can travel with me to several places where I like to pray: for example, the grass under a tree in my backyard, a local park, my porch, a place by water if my day's plans take me near one. Or the basket can go to less enticing spots and temporarily transform them for prayer - the office before coworkers arrive, a hotel room, occasionally a hospital, a vacation place with lots of activity.
I chose my basket after deciding what it would hold. Then I found the appropriate size, one beautifully woven of ivory- and cocoa-colored reeds.
Right now, my basket is a nest for two slim journals, one for short comments on the day and one for the spiritual experiences or insights that I want to write out fully. A spiritual book is handy for daily nourishment. A book of meditations waits for the days when prayer doesn't come naturally.
Usually sliding to the bottom of the basket is a kitchen timer for meditation/centering prayer; using it releases me from glancing at my watch. A highlighter marker stands out in a small gathering of pens and pencils.
Of course, I change the basket contents occasionally. I may choose to use the Bible for a while. Or to add a second spiritual book. Sometimes a magazine such as Spirituality & Health covers the top of the basket. Adding items means shelving some others so that I can carry, not drag, my basket.
I walk with my prayer basket or perch it on the backseat of my car. Because the handle and the loveliness of the weaving feel familiar to my touch, they, too, signal me to relax into openness to prayer - wherever I am.
Virginia Ann Froehle