by Peter Konz on March 31, 2010
Just like this image to the left, we also have many layers and textures that make up who we are. Some of what stands out before others is blue, some cloudy and there are some, but not often seen, dark. Society too, puts us in situations that can and do push us into intersections with the expectations of others. These expectations shape and segment us in ways that both we and those around us no longer see the whole. We can become so divided by our roles and responsibilities that we are no longer able to remember who and whose we are.
Jurgen Moltmann writes, “Men are compelled to declare faith in and to do things which they do not want to do. Modern society is called a pluralistic society because in it a multitude of views and interests, groups and associations are competing with one another. In it man experiences himself too as a pluralistic being, who must live at the point of intersection of often very different claims, standards and expectations, which can no longer be brought under the common denominator of a single personality which is at peace with itself, and of a consistent picture of life. The compulsion to constant new adaptation can lead to the dissolution of the continuity of life as lived”.
We can be pushed, pulled, and twisted, as we try to meet these claims and demands that contribute to the constant adaptation that we find ourselves in. But we don’t have to lose sight of who we are or of whose we are. In fact, the Spirit of God and the Word, regularly remind us of both who we are and whose we are if we would listen and yield ourselves. I believe that God desires for us to live lives of wholeness and abundance. We are called to become more like Christ and His is the only expectaion that truly needs to be met. Listening and yielding do not come easily to us. It takes time in solitude, the Word and in prayer. It is also most helpful if we have someone to walk with us as we yield ourselves to the Spirit of God. This could be perhaps a Spiritual director, a trusted soul friend, or a loved one who will listen without judging, who will pray for you and who will hold you accountable if needed.
We will continue to have this fragmentation as the world continues to push its way into our lives with it’s expectations, and we certainly do have God given roles and responsibilities. But we are to be more than these individual pieces and parts, we are to be the sum of them all, by and in Jesus.
Quote: Jurgen Moltmann, On Human Being, pg. 89
Print This Post
by Peter Konz on March 26, 2010
Reading Thomas Merton this morning reminded me again about the realities or our prayer life. He writes, ” Prayer and Love are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone.
If you have never had any distractions you don’t know how to pray. For the secret of prayer is a hunger for God and for the vision of God, a hunger that lies far deeper than the level of language or affection. And a man whose memory and imagination are persecuting him with a crowd of useless or even evil thoughts and images may be forced to pray far better, in the depths of his murdered heart, than one whose mind is swimming with clear concepts and brilliant purposes and easy acts of love.
That is why it is useless to get upset when you cannot shake off distractions. In the first place, you must realize that they are often unavoidable in the life of prayer. The necessity of kneeling and suffering submersion under a tidal wave of wild and inane images is one of the standard trials of the contemplative life. If you think that you are obliged to stave these things off by using a book and clutching at its sentences the way a drowning man clutches at straws, you have the privilege of doing so, but if you allow your prayer to degenerate into a period of spiritual reading you are losing a great deal of fruit. You would profit much more by patiently resisting distractions and learning something of your own helplessness and incapacity. And if your book merely becomes an anesthetic, far from helping your meditation it has probably ruined it”.
Certainly there is an ebb and flow in our prayer life. There are times when we are so intent upon our time spent with God, that we are able to truly and openly converse with Him. Both in expressing our innermost needs and being able to listen to Him. Most often though we can be distracted. We come into that time in prayer so loaded with our own agenda that we don’t or are unable to hear what we most need. Or we have so much of going on with work, family, life, etc., that those things crowd into our time of prayer. How often have you been praying and different random thoughts begin to float in and out during your time in prayer? It can be distracting for sure, and even disheartening as we really want to pay attention and be focused. Many times it is when we are tired, or there is an over abundance of stuff going on that we are dealing with, but sometimes none of that may be the case. These distractions are seemingly ever present during our times with God. They are most intense when we have stopped talking and are trying to listen to God’s side of the conversation.
As Merton shares with us, struggling with this is an ongoing endeavor. But struggling with it in fact intensifies the chatter and is a major distraction in itself. I find that I need to bring myself gently back into focus. Sometimes is is by quoting a verse of scripture, often times it is by saying the Jesus Prayer. I find that the Spirit of God uses these things to bring me back into my shared time with God.
How have you struggled with this reality of prayer? When you are distracted what is it that brings you back into the conversation?
Quote: Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, pgs. 224-225
Print This Post
