At an evening prayer service in a Lutheran church in a prosperous Twin Cities suburb, the congregation sways back and forth, in time to a simple repetitive hymn projected on a screen in the front of the church.
Worshippers hold their hands over their heads, palms upward, in an ancient gesture of prayer.
The effect is slow and dreamy, as if the scene is underwater and the arms are sea plants swaying in the current on the ocean floor. People who speak in tongues make sounds that are not a known language but resemble one. To the believer, speaking in tongues is a way of communicating with God in a way that transcends words. Speaking in tongues, or glossolalia as scientists call it, is an ancient practice found around the world in many different cultures. Trobriand Islanders in the South Pacific, Yanomamo Indians of Amazonia, reindeer hunting Chukchi of Siberia, and many other groups use glossolalia in religious rituals.