Inner Covering in Prayer

Neville's Inner Vision

Paul is not issuing an external rule but inviting a quiet inward audit before God. What you call 'comely' to pray depends on the state of your mind, not on cloth or ceremony. The masculine and feminine in the passage symbolize inner energies—initiative and receptivity—at play in your praying. When you think of long hair as a 'covering,' translate it as your inner alignment: the respect and attention you allow to the I AM within. If you are contentious, he says, there is no universal custom among the churches, which is a reminder that outward forms are only pointers to inner order. Nature’s language in the verse becomes a mirror: your state of consciousness will naturally express itself as a form of modesty or glory according to the alignment you choose. So the outward practice points you to one act: enter your prayer already clothed in the divine order by assuming its presence, by feeling the truth of your I AM, and by letting humility and integrity rule your approach.