September 2007

Dear Friends,

How’s your daily prayer life? Stop - wait - I know about half of you are already about to toss this letter in the trash. And I guarantee it’s not the half that feels really satisfied with their prayer life. But take heart, I’m not going to nag you or make you feel bad about your spiritual journey. That would defeat the purpose of prayer, which is designed to bring us a measure of peace, not make us feel worse. Instead, listen to this secret: when I referred to the half of you who feel really satisfied with your daily prayer, I was being facetious. I feel sure that of all the people who read this, far less than half are really satisfied. In fact, I’ll bet the number is so small it’s only about two people, and they’re both in denial. I had a colleague once who got up every morning and devoted two hours to prayer – and he didn’t feel like it was enough! Oh, and by the way, he had no spouse, his children were grown, and his job was Spiritual Development, just in case you were wondering where he found the time.

The fact is, on the best of days we’re all rushing around trying to fit everything into the day, from the moment we open our eyes to the moment our heads hit the pillow. And while we all know that daily prayer is a necessary part of healthy living, a vital piece of connecting to our life force, it is the very fact that we know how important it is that we don’t do it. Now stay with me here. In prayer we are stilling our inner monologue of the madness and the mundane, and talking to GOD ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, so we know that we ought to allow at least, at LEAST, an hour a day to it (heck, it takes 48 minutes minimum to get my brain to shut up), but who has that, so let’s make it a half an hour, but I can’t find that time every single day, so surely I can manage fifteen minutes a day, so to be on the safe side I’ll commit to five minutes every morning, although I forget sometimes, and I’m in a rush every other day, and, well, I’ll start again committing to daily prayer on January 1. Or Lent. No, make it the summer, when I have more time. No, really, I promise, September, when the kids are back in school.

Come on, everyone, let’s chill out, and give ourselves a break. In this case, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of procrastination. Prayer isn’t just talking to the Supreme Ruler of Heaven and Earth; prayer is also extraordinarily ordinary conversation with Jesus. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and need not take an hour. In fact, I think the Lord would prefer a dozen short conversations a day over one really good prayer every Easter Sunday. Think Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof, chatting with God like an old and trusted confidant while Tevye delivers milk to his customers. Tevye doesn’t try to still the commonplace nature of his daily thoughts; those mundane musings are the very heart of his prayers. He trusts that the Lord cares for the smallest parts of his life.

One of my favorite poets is Mary Oliver, who wrote this about prayer:

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Let’s start with this, then, and see where the day takes us: Lord, hear our prayer.

Amen.

Martin

To read Martin's letters from past months, please click here.