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

August 16, 1379 At Rome

     “Eternal Godhead, break my body so that I may be able to see the truth– for now my memory cannot encompass you, nor my understanding comprehend you, nor my affection love you as I ought.  Oh divine nature you raise the dead and you alone give life.  You choose to join dead human nature to yourself so as to bring it back to life.  Oh Word eternal! you so joined mortal nature with yourself that it became absolutely impossible to separate it from you.  So on the cross mortal nature suffered but divine nature gave it life.  This is why you were at the same time sorrowful and happy.  Not even in the tomb could the one nature be separated from the other.  Oh eternal Father, you say that you clothed your Word in our nature so that in him this nature of ours might make atonement to you for us.  Oh unutterable mercy! You chose to punish your own natural Son for the sin of your adopted child!  And not only did he suffer the pain of the cross in his body, but the crucifying desire of his spirit as well. 

     Oh eternal Father!  How deep and unutterable are your judgments!  The fool does not understand them.  In fact, foolish people judge your actions and those of your servants by their husks, not by the profound depth of your charity or the wealth of charity you have poured into your servants.  Oh ignorant, bestial people!  Why, after God made you human, have you made yourselves beasts?  And not only beasts, but nothings!  And you judge as beasts would!  Don’s you know that bestial people are sentenced to the eternal pains of hell?  And in those pains they turn into nothings– not so far as existence is concerned, but in respect to that grace which completes nature, and whatever is deprived of its perfection can be called nothing.

     The eternal Word is given to us through Mary’s hands.  From Mary’s substance he clothed himself in our nature without the stain of original sin– for that conception was not a man’s doing, but the Holy Spirit’s.  The same was not true of Mary because she came forth from Adam’s clay by a man’s doing, not the Holy Spirit’s.  And since that whole mass was rotten and corrupt, it was impossible to infuse her soul into any but a corrupt material, nor could she be truly cleansed except by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  Now the body cannot receive that grace, but only the rational or intellectual spirit.  Thus Mary could not be cleansed of that stain except after her soul had been infused into her body–and this was done out of reverence for the divine Word who could enter that vessel.  So, just as a furnace devours a drop of water in a split second, so the Holy Spirit devoured that stain of original sin, for immediately after her conception Mary was cleaned of that sin and given great grace.  You know, Lord, that this is the truth.  Amen”.

     Suzzanne Noffke, OP, The Prayers of Catherine of Siena, 2nd ed., pgs. 240-243

     Life has a definite balance to it.  There is an ebb and flow, a rhythm if you will, that God has ordained for us.  It is for our health and benefit, it is part of our journey to the father.  It is easy for us to get out of this pattern that God has given.  There is work, rest, prayer, solitude, and community all woven into this fabric that we call our lives.  As we find and live in this balance, work and prayer don’t have to be mutually exclusive, they can and do go hand in hand.

     We have examples of those who spend much time in prayer, much time at work, and who have been successful at being able to do both at the same time.  Brother Lawrence was able to maintain this attitude and posture seemingly in all that he did.  God asks us to do all to his glory both in word and in deed, and  the Apostle Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing”.  So how is this possible? Does it matter what type of work that I am doing?

     Thomas Merton quotes St. Basil in regards to private prayer, he writes,

Private prayer for Basil is then prayer that is carried  on while the ascetic is at work or going about his ordinary duties:  For prayer and psalmody every hour is suitable, that while one’s hands are busy with their tasks we may praise God sometimes with our tongue, or if not, with the heart…. Thus in the midst of our work we can fulfill the duty of prayer, giving thanks to him who has granted strength to our hands for performing our tasks, and cleverness to our minds for acquiring knowledge…. Thus we acquire a recollected spirit, when in every action we beg from God the success of our labors and satisfy our debt of gratitude to him…. and when we keep before our minds  the aim of pleasing him.

     Based upon this, it is obvious that it is a combination of our hearts attitude and acknowledgement of the father and his gift of work to us.  It is about being vigilant to cast our dependence on him in all that we do.  Not to become so full of ourselves, our skill sets, or abilities, but to realize always and acknowledge daily whose we are and where these gifts com from.  It is staying in the place of doing all things as unto him that allows work and prayer to coexist.  And not only to coexist, but for work to be prayer.

     How often we forget to praise and acknowledge him in work.  Let us ask him to remind us throughout the day whose we are, and where the gift of work comes from.  Let us pray that whatever we do for work, becomes an act of worship and prayer to him.

     Most of us have been to the physician for an examination.  Sometimes it’s because we are having some problems physically or we are experiencing an illness.  But many times for our own good we have periodic routine examinations.  For St. Ignatius, the prayer of Examen was an opportunity for us to take our spiritual temperature, pulse, and respiration.

     As we navigate through our day and our lives, we have places where we need to stop and get a fix on what is happening with us in our relationship with God, with others, and with creation.  Most often, just as we don’t go to the doctor for routine check-ups, we don’t go to God to see how we are doing either. In the prayer of Examen, we can begin to get a sense of where we find freedom or consolation and restriction or desolation in our everyday.

     The prayer is quite simple really.  You are basically asking two questions of God and your self, as you review your day.  The Book, Sleeping with Bread is a wonderful short little explanation of how this Prayer can deepen our knowledge of God and ourselves.  The authors suggest these two simple yet profound questions: For what moment  today am I most grateful?  and For what moment today am I least grateful?  Though these questions appear simple, they can quickly let us check in on how we are doing.

     I routinely use this prayer to get a pulse on what is happening with me and God.  I can find where there may be blockage in my heart and soul, and ask the Great physician to bring me to the place of spiritual health that he desires for me.  I can find by the Spirit where the most freedom is found and ask God to deepen those experiences and strengthen my muscles of gratitude.  In the process, I discover patterns of health and weakness and the very areas that God would have me work in with him.

     This prayer is usually done daily as a way to a check in on our spiritual health.  But it can be used as a weekly, monthly, and even yearly check up. I find it most helpful to use a journal as I talk with God about it.  It helps me see things more clearly.  It is important for all of us to get a check-up.  Why not begin by spending time with God and asking those two simple questions?

How often do you get a routine check-up with God?

Picture: Dr. OZ + Patient = Happy times, by Nayrb7

Book: Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn, Sleeping with Bread: Holding what gives you Life.

     C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) is one of my favorite authors.  He has written an array of books, my favorites being: A Grief Observed, Mere Christianity, and Letters to Malcolm.  His books have been thoughtful and many times challenging. 

     As I read and processed the book, Letters to Malcolm : Chiefly on Prayer, I found it to contain very expressive language and challenging ideas.  In his book C.S. Lewis uses a very clever way to discuss the main theme of the book, prayer.  He uses a discussion or correspondence between two individuals to make his various points.  In fact, the person that he is corresponding with is actually a fictional character.  The correspondence or letters cover various aspects of prayer.  From practical experience to mystical concepts that raise many questions.

     In his letters, Lewis weaves his thoughts on prayer into the everyday questions of life and relationship.  At times I found his writing difficult to grasp and his arguments even a bit circular.  He uses church history, theology, philosophy and even Greek in his discussions with Malcolm to both raise and answer questions.  Though the book is primarily about prayer, it does speak of the other aspect of spiritual life as well.

     This book is thought provoking and certainly an honest expression of what we as humans question about ourselves and our relationship to God.  It further demonstrates that through time men and women have wrestled with questions about faith and practice. That as human beings we are progressing on a journey that at times may be in the dark.  That we are still waiting for both clarity and light.  C.S. Lewis has shared insights that he has discovered on his journey, while at the same time acknowledging that each of us is at different points on our own.  I highly recommend this creative and yet challenging reflection on prayer.