Interior Life challenges

Although God does not demand perfection of us in order to work in us and through us, the Christian Life Is impossible without an interior life. The Christian interior life has prayer as its centerpiece. Thinking the right thoughts, performing the right acts, being liturgically correct accurate, working for justice, all have prayer as a prerequisite. These acts are hollow without it, at least as far as being meritorious. It is like trying to use an electric blender while unplugged.

This is, in fact, true of everything we do. all must be done in the context of a loving, trusting, and attentive relationship with God. And not just saying prayers, but being in prayer. This is where practicing the presence of God comes in.

It is so hard to be “in prayer” when concentrating on temporal matters, especially those things that have no religious context or content. I work at a seminary and I still find it hard to be attentive to my participation in God's activities in my work. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but I do. So much in life is not drenched in prayer. What would my personal, familial, and professional life be like if I had done all the “good” things “in the Spirit. In the Lord.”

“Where two or three are gathered....” Yes, but if I don't have my antennae up, I am not receiving the signal that will help animate The Presence in the here and now.

It is pretty obvious to me when I am “on”. There is a richness and a peace that envelops the situation. I am not a calm person. Like so many people seem to be, I am haunted by worry, if not anxiety. I often don’t feel like I am doing the right thing, that I am pleasing to God without remainder.

All of this I believe is a sign that I am not cultivating well an interior life a prayer. After all this time, I am still an amateur, a beginner in the interior life. I need to learn to be in prayer without doing. I need exterior and interior silence and quiet.

Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart. Lead me deeper into prayer. Help me be with you and get to know you in my here and now.