I was just reading Michelle Hargrave's blog entry, it is a wonderful piece of writing. She concludes by talking about fitting prayer into her life, something that really resonated with me. One of the "requirements" of becoming an oblate is to read the daily office or liturgy of the hours at least once a day. I've been using "Benedictine Daily Prayer - A Short Breviary" by Max Johnson and the Monks of St. John's Abbey. The monks pray up to 8 times a day which is pretty impressive since I've been trying, and struggling, to get just that one each day. It is hard to believe, and admit, that my life is so busy, so convoluted that I can't set aside 5 or 10 minutes a day to pray. I've tried early morning, but the dog usually needs some attention. Evenings are pretty hectic around here and I do need to be present at work most of the day. So, my routine has gotten to be that I pray when I can, in the car on the way to work, as the computer is booting up, at lunch. It might not be the liturgy, but it is prayer and as Michelle says "it will have to do for now".
Peace,
Jeff
1 comment:
Jeff,
Thanks for your wonderful reflections on "evangelism" (I, too, am uncomfortable with an evangelism that thinks that we have all the spiritual knowledge and need to tell our story without listening to the spiritual stories of others), eucharist and prayer. One of my favorite books on prayer, something I bought early in my ministry was a little book called Prayer and the Common Life by Thomas Langford. In the introduction, Langford cites an ancient spiritual teaching on prayer - "Pray as you can pray, don't pray as you can't pray." While it is important for me to continue to stuggle with creating a time for prayer, it is just as important to pray how and when I can. I have found little benefit from beating myself up because I don't get up at 5 a.m. for prayer.
Peace,
David
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