Finish this sentence. “The first thing that I think when I wake is
…” For some, words that conclude the sentence are: What time is it? For
others: What do I have to do today? Still, others have no words, but a desire for
coffee or more sleep.
When I wake, the first thing
that I think is God. Prayer comes to mind when I wake. I do not recite a creed
or a formal prayer, but internally speak to God. Speaking and listening to God
is my prayer. Then, I get out of bed; make the coffee, check my email and sit
down to write, read or pray with intention.
Later in the morning, Cindy
and I walk Travis and Pepper around the Tinley Park Recreation Center. On our
way, we pass Faith Christian Reformed Church, where Pastor Mark Timmer changes
the phrase on the marquee. Recently, it read: Prayer is a conversation with your best friend. Quite true. Prayer
is an intimate conversation with a best friend.
Regarding what happens
during prayer, someone once replied to St. John Vianney, “I look at Him and He looks at me.” Only those who are intimate
with one another will feel comfortable with such mutual gazing. I would feel
uncomfortable if a person on the subway or bus looked at me this way. It would
be a stare or a gawk accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling. Not so with God.
With Him, I am most intimate.
Cindy and I share this
intimacy with God as we begin each morning with a few pages from Christian
Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours. We read aloud psalms, canticles and prayers.
We repeat our morning practice in the evening and before we retire to bed.
The Liturgy of the Hours is
Christianity’s earliest form of public worship. Christians celebrate the
Liturgy of the Hours under various names. Eastern Christians recite the Horologion or Book of Hours. Anglicans
pray from the book of Daily Prayer of Common Worship and the Book of Common
Prayer. Lutherans find their prayer in the liturgical books used by their
various church bodies, as does every denomination.
When I asked Cindy what she
likes about our new practice of prayer, she replied, “The routine.” There is something about a routine, method, practice
or ritual that stays with us. There is a certain comfort when we can recite a
prayer or passage by heart. To attain that mutual gaze with an intimate friend,
we begin by practicing ritual or a routine prayer method.
Except for an occasional
mispronunciation of a word or reading over the other’s part, reciting Christian
Prayer is also a pleasant quiet time for the two of us. Because we recite our
prayer in the family room, the other members of our family participate in less
spiritual activities. Travis, our photogenic Golden Retriever, and Pepper, our
adorable mixed breed rescue dog, often choose their playtime to coincide with
our prayer time.
There are moments when Cindy
and I interrupt our prayer and end the dogs’ frivolity, but experience has
taught us they quickly exhaust themselves, or that Buddie, our rodent-killing
cat, who can no longer tolerate the racket, will end playtime by wailing and swatting
each dog with a sharp paw.
What this means is that we
must pray amidst activity. Our microcosm of spiritual experience teaches us
that we cannot control all the activity around us, and often must trust that in
God’s time, the commotion must stop.
Decades ago, I learned that
an infant crying during the service will soon stop or that one of the parents
will take the child out of earshot. If not, I tuned out the distraction and
tuned into our devotion. Whenever Christians take time for individual or gather
for communal prayer, there will always be distractions around us that we cannot
stop. People will engage in vice and violence – gossip, infidelity, abortion
and an array of abusive behavior towards others and themselves. Parents and
caregivers will neglect their children and the elderly. Nations will war on
other nations and oppress their own people. Nature will produce hailstorms and
heatwaves, blizzards and earthquakes. We must continue to pray through
distractions – dog-fights and cosmic disasters.
Jesus gave his peace to his
disciples and encouraged them with these words: “Let not your hearts be
troubled, neither let them be afraid.”[1] In
God’s time, all distractions will end. At the appropriate time, God will direct
us to deal with people’s vices and violence, abuse and oppression. Until then, we
pray amidst activity.
