Person at Prayer
One of the most tender images is the human person at prayer. When the body gathers itself before the Divine, a stillness deepens. The blaring din of distraction ceases, and the deeper tranquility within the heart envelops the body. To see people at prayer is a touching sight. …It is as if they have chosen to enter into a secret belonging carried within the soul; they rest in that inner temple impervious to outer control or claiming. [To see] a person at prayer…reminds us that we are mere guests on the earth, pilgrims who always walk on unsteady ground, carrying in earthen vessels multitudes of longing. John O’Donahue, Eternal Echoes Page 184.
When John O’Donahue speaks of choosing to enter into a secret belonging carried within the soul; it reminds me of how Christ tells us that when we pray we should go away by ourselves, shut the door behind us, and pray to our Father in secret. Matthew 6:6
When we pray, it is as if we enter a different realm of being from where we normally exist. As an astronaut goes into a different realm of physical existence when he travels into outer space, so does a Christian go into a different realm of spiritual existence when he prays.
We may think about God at all times of our daily lives but, when we consciously pray to God alone, it is as if we are wrapped in a spiritual tranquility, going down deep into our soul’s being where God alone exists, and where the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
Here is where God dwells in secret within us and where we dwell in secret within God our Creator. This is where we are at home in one another—God in us and we in God; it is where the praying Christian is totally at home in God’s love and in the temple of the Holy Spirit, and where we are new born in God every prayer moment.
Judith Lawrence
Judith is a Professional member of The Word Guild and author of two non-fiction books, Prayer Companion: A Treasury of Personal Meditation, and Glorious Autumn Days: Meditations for the Wisdom Years, as well as one book of mystical poetry, Grapes from the Vine. Judith writes a monthly meditation, which can be found on her website: www.judithlawrence.ca. Judith’s latest spiritual book, Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey is now available. You can purchase it through Wipf and Stock Publishers.
