PRAYER
reaching beyond the illusion
As a former religion teacher to middle school kids,
i wrangled more than my share of a let's-stump-the-teacher type students -
i have fond memories of a street-smart, Black kid who went by "Ant" -
i'd earned his respect, but his testing me never ended
(through his questions he became my teacher).
One day he asked me, “How often should we pray?”
i am sure he hoped there was some formula for a spiritual recipe to salvation ….
pray this many times a day, and you’re good to go!
My immediate response was much more stark: “Your life should be your prayer.” 1
The idea of prayer is not only about communication
but also about communion with one’s Creator –
while communication infers ‘speaking’
communion refers to the ‘back and forth’ exchange that happens in the listening ...
and that’s the part folks often forget, that other half of praying is listening …
I didn’t realize until I got much older that not all folks
spend their days listening, and giving thanks -
yet still i don't pray enough (imo), neither am i always 'listening' mindfully,
the goal being to steep in a prayerful frame of mind all the time,
which is what Jesuit children learn life is for:
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam; For the Greater Glory of God
and while I may idealize the ritual of morning prayer,
that reality is impossible for night owls like me…
by the time I wake up, I hit the floor running, and prayer is an afterthought,
so i take it with me and do it on the run -
then i got lazy and decided to just steep in prayer all the time
that way you don't have to remember or forget to pray ...
it's the only way i know to make my life my prayer
Besides it isn’t it just as prayerful to sit in a sunroom overlooking a pasture,
sipping morning coffee,
checking in spiritually with animal neighbours who visit…
knowing knowing full well that the present moment is only by Spirit's doing anyway
for truth be told, if the present moment is indeed all that there is,
But i hadn't yet discovered Black Elk, a fellow catechist, who would become a lifelong teacher, guiding my assimilation of irish catholicism with my american indian heritage -
coincidentally enough Black Elk and i were introduced by way of a falling book in a Clackamas, OR bookstore -
a number of teachers have come to me this way if truth be told -
It was from Black Elk though that i learned the undeniable connections between catholic esotericism and native beliefs --
he showed me that only a bridge separated them, and that he stood on one side of this bridge and i on the other,
and that we were seeing the same thing, but from opposite viewpoints,
and that perspective is everything to be sure --
make no mistake: Spirit can and does teach directly...one must only be willing to listen.
it's all in the listening. --NHT
