Carrying the Residual Focus:
The prayer time might feel so good
that we don't want it to end, but
the prayer time is meant to be the
beginning of the day. During the
prayer time, we develop the
technique and desire that we
intend to use the rest of the day.
The
focus,
personality,
and
virtue of
the prayer time are meant to be
our companions for the rest of the
day.
As Saint Martin de Porres has told
us, the success we have, in
carrying the prayer time during
the day, will prominently affect
how well we do during our next
prayer time. This concept goes
beyond psychological momentum and
discipline, because, as Saint
James points out, God participates
more with those who cooperate with
the divine plan. If we are serious
about our spiritual journey,
during the day, we need to express
the inspiration we received during
our prayer.
When we have had a good prayer
time, it will naturally carry over
into the day, anyway. Saints John
of the Cross and Teresa of Avila
called this carryover coloring. Of
course, we want to exploit
coloring like any other good
window of opportunity. While
coloring might seem like a
distraction to our next activity,
it actually makes us much more
focused.
Our mind is always moving. If we
don't use our mind to be with God,
we will allow our mind to drift
from one appetite to the next.
When we are at work, with a little
practice, we will be able to
concentrate better with our
commemoration than
without it. As our mind drifts
from appetite to appetite, we
become more confused. By contrast,
when we are closer to God we are
more focused and intelligent as
demonstrated by Aquinas. Jesus was
clear about staying focused. We
can not put our hand to the plow,
and keep looking back to our old
appetites (Luke 9:62). Our day
belongs to God, and we need to
maintain a prayerful composure
throughout the day. We are always
moving towards God or away from
God.
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Striving for Simplicity:
We should strive to be like God,
and God is infinitely simple. A
lifestyle of extravangant living
has many selfish temptations. It
is easy to feel important,
protective, or relaxed in an
environment of indulgence. While
these may not seem to be that much
of a handicap, they often stand in
the way of God's plan. As
servants, we must see the needs of
others as something that demands
our attention. When we have
wealth, insurance, and social
esteem, will we abandon everything
to follow the Lord like Peter did?
How are we exactly carrying out
God's plan when we watch 4 hours
of television each day? We can not
fully live, unless we live for the
Lord with a singular intent.
If we pray, we will be called. The
more complicated our life is, the
more difficult it will be to
follow Peter's example. To make
matters worse, the call often
seems impossible. We will be given
the grace to answer the call, but
we won't be able to count the
cost. Jesus lived simply and gave
everything. If we are going to
follow the Lord, we will need to
be simple and generous.
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Watching Our Appetites:
Our prayer is for the Body of
Christ. We are not as interested
in taking care of our own
appetites as we are in channeling
God's love to the Body of Christ.
For example, while meditation may
relieve stress, the primary
purpose of our prayer is to be
instruments of the Divine (not to
relieve stress). Love moves us to
share our gifts for the common
good, whereas selfishness longs to
fill an internal need.
It is not so much that we need to
question our intentions which
might lead to scruples, but to
carry out the inspiration which we
received in out meditation. Our
ministry is more of a plan than a
need. As Saint Francis of Assisi
put it, we should strive more to
love others than we would seek
love for ourselves.
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Keeping Our Balance:
Love is a communal activity. A
deep prayer life doesn't
necessarily make us immune from
poor personal choices. Somewhere
along our spiritual journey we are
likely to suffer from debilitating
scruples, dangerous asceticism, or
other personal issues. While our
families and communities might not
help us with these things, they
can hold up a mirror; so we can
see them. For example, we should
be just as concerned about the
moral mistakes in our communities
as we are of our own faults, and
we wouldn't fast so much that we
didn't have the strength to help
the less fortunate.
By far, the larger issue is under
commitment. Deep prayer is not
something that makes our life
better, it is what we build our
life around. It is not enough to
feel God in our prayer, we pray
and believe that we will bring God
to the world.
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