This book began when I was commissioned in May 1979 to create a photographic display on Prayer for the Church Center for the United Nations. A year later, when that work was finished, approximately half of these images had been made, courtesy of the Cultural Council Foundation Artists Project. I then became the recipient of the first annual Carl Allison Evans Award, made by Fellowship in Prayer, Inc., which enabled me to work for another year and expand the book's scope by gathering material through travels abroad.

I am indebted to Rochelle Slovin, Director of the Cultural Council Foundation Artists Project, who facilitated my sponsorship with the Church Center for the United Nations. To Dr. Melvin Hawthorne, its Chaplain, who trusted me to shape this concept as I saw fit. Above all, to Paul Griffith, Joy Reynolds, and Fellowship in Prayer's Trustees, who provided the funds and support necessary to make the vision behind this work a reality.

To my editor Toinette Lippe, for her loyalty, enthusiasm, and guidance. To my mother, Leonie, for her example of humility. To my wife, Deborah, for her encouragement, and for bearing the burden of my absences and obsessive attention to the work in hand. To my daughter, Rebecca, born six months after the start of this project, for giving me a clearer glimpse of love.

I am also grateful to the following people for opening their doors to me:

Sr. Eugene Pia and the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, Staten Island, N.Y.; Fr. Chappell and Sr. Beth Beth Hansel of Mount Augustine Apostolic Center, Staten Island, N.Y.; Swami Abhayananda, Swami Satchidananda and his devotees at the Integral Yoga Institute, N.Y.C.; Elizabeth Rechtschaffer, Pir Vilayat Khan and his devotees at The Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, N.Y.; Jim and Kathleen Webber, and Sharry Silvi of the Focolare Movement, N.Y.C.; Laxmi Nrshma, Devadeva, Tosan Krsna and the devotees of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, International Society for Krsna Consciousness, in N.Y.C., and at the Gita-Nagari Firm, Port Royal, Pennsylvania; Sr. Frances Picone of the Sisters of Mercy, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Richard Robinson and the staff of the Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Mass.; Nandini Weitzman, Swami Muktanandi and his devotees at Siddha Yoga Dham, N.Y.C.; Rupa and the staff of the Satgit Rajneesh Meditation Center, N.Y.C.; Eido Roshi at the New York Zendo Center; Nandini and Dr. Ramamurti Mishra of the Ananda Ashram, Monroe, N.Y.; Khair-un-nisa, Sophia, Zarifah, and Iman at the Sufi Order, N.Y.C.; Lama Norlha a devotees at Kagyu Dsamling Kunchae, N.Y.C.; Benjamin and Menucha Levine, Brooklyn, N~Y.; Reverend Oketcho of East Harlem Interfaith, N.Y.C.; Rev. James Morton of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, N.Y.C; Arthur Eaton and Carla De Sola of the Omega Liturgical Dance Company, N.Y.C.; Fr. Michael Perry Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Mother Mary Terez and the Sisters of the Dominican Nuns of Perpetual I Adoration, Corpus Christi Monastery, Bronx, N.Y.; the Brothers and Sisters of Little Brothers and Little Sisters the Gospel, N.Y.C.; Sr. Bernadette and her staff at the Dwelling Place, N.Y.C.; Dr. Natalie Maxwell and Geshe Lozang Tseten of the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America, Washington, N.J.; Charles Levitt Buddhist Church of New York, N.Y.C.; Lori Belilove of the Downtown American Dance Company, N.Y.C.; Pastor Charles Sadaphal and his congregation at the Deeper Life Christian Fellowship, Richmond Hill, N.Y.; Mr. James Shaffer of Calvary/St. George's Church, N.Y.C.; Br. Hammond and the Brothers of Weston Weston, Vermont; Janet Casper of Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, N.Y.C.; Lama Tenzin Choney and Tulku Rinpoche of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Woodstock, N.Y.; Fr. Gerald Ruane of the Sacred H Jesus Institute of Healing, Caidwell, NJ.; John Driscoll, Jr., M.D., and his wife, Yvonne Driscoll, M.D., their staff at Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center N.Y.C.; Ibrahim Chowdry of the Council of America, N.Y.C.; Donald Lepore of the New Jersey Institute of Parapsychology, Inc., Jersey City, N.J.; Mrs. Christine Klein, Mother Ruth, and the teachers of St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School, N.Y.C.; Monsignor Bourke, Veronica Cook, and the teachers of Corpus Christi School, N.Y.C.; Fr. O'Conner Sr. Miriam of the Church of the Holy Name, N.Y.C.; Sr. Priscilla and the Sisters of the Missionaries of Bronx, N.Y.; Cathy and Edward Greenstein, N.Y.C.; Debby Hirshman-Green of Camp Ramab, Palmer, Mass.; Sr. Mary David and the Sisters of St. Rose's Home, N.Y.C.