Words? Whose words?

So if I'm going to 'elevate my soul to God', how do I do this?
Do I use words, like I would if I was talking to my husband?
Or is 'heart-talk' sufficient?

What the definition said was a 'raising of the mind and heart to God' - well that sounds as if it could be wordless.
But then, don't I have to use words to formulate my thoughts.... Maybe not always.

I like the definition of contemplation that I once heard:
God looking at me looking at God. (or to translate that into my preferred name for the Almighty:
LOVE looking at me looking at LOVE

Why do I prefer that wording? My experience tells me that those many people who think they don't believe in GOD, actually believe very strongly in love, and since I believe passionately in the Scripture that says God is love, I have started using LOVE (all capitals) as my favoured name for the One who some people would say is Un-nameable.

So then, dear LOVE, take this lovely world of Yours and protect it from the mistakes of human beings. Amen

Postings to this blog over the next few days may be sporadic. I'm planning to write each day, but may not have access to post. If so, I'll post the entries when I return next week.

B16 on Prayer as service

This is something the Pope said last Wednesday when he was talking to visitors at his summer home in Castel Gondolfo (August 13 2008) (emphasis mine)

I know well that the first service I can render the Church and humanity is, in fact, prayer, because by praying I confidently place in the Lord's hands the ministry that he himself has entrusted to me, together with the destiny of the whole ecclesial and civil community.

Those who pray never lose hope, even when they find themselves in difficult and even humanly desperate situations. Sacred Scripture teaches us this and it is attested in the history of the Church. How many examples, in fact, we can recall of situations in which it was precisely prayer that sustained the journey of saints of the Christian people!

He says it much better than I can. It is this 'service rendered to the Church' that I want this blog to be about.

Day Two - Praying about what to write.

So then, if this blog is to be about 'listening prayer' - listening to what God might be wanting to say - then I'd better start right here.

Make myself still as I sit here at the keyboard - hear the sounds of the computer, my husband moving in the house, but listen for the ideas that might be appropriate.

Catechism definition of prayer from my childhood (as I remember it):
PRAYER is an elevation of the soul to God,

• To PRAISE Him for his goodness,
• To THANK Him for his benefits,
• To ASK for what we need, and to obtain forgiveness for our sins
• And to obtain the GRACE not to commit them again.

St. Francis de Sales tells us: "Pray for your prayer's success." so Lord of LOVE , You know I want to pray for what You want me to pray for - in our culture, actions, and attitudes. Make this a good prayer. Amen

Be Doers of the WORD and not hearers only

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.
He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. (James Chapter 1, verses 22-24)

I find it whimsical that I should be quoting St James. I never thought much about him, until my recent effort on the Camino de Santiago de Comostela.

Here was a person who practiced what he preached. Jesus said: Go and teach all nations, so James set out to teach in Spain. When he had done that, he went back home, and was martyred in the Holy Land.

But he had to be listening to Jesus in order to hear that clear command.
Prayer is more about listening, than about saying words.

And in my experience, God doesn't only speak when you are on your knees. Sometimes He talks through events and circumstances, sometimes through nature, and very often through other people who may be unaware that they are angels in disguise.

Be the change you want to see in the world (Mahatma Gandhi)

I am concerned with some of what is happening to parts of the world in which I live.
I don't like some of the changes in my culture. I want other changes that haven't happened yet.

I'm a Catholic Christian. I hear and read people suggesting all kinds of actions and programmes that might make a difference. Rarely does anyone mention praying before acting, yet I believe the scripture verse that says: Unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build.(Verse 1 of Psalm 127)

So I have decided to do what Gandhi suggests, and to start today to pray for the CHANGE THAT GOD WANTS not just in our culture, but in our behaviour, and in our personal attitudes.

I could do with the support of knowing that other people might be willing to do this also, so I invite you to make a start. There is a facility for you to make a comment if you wish at the end of this blog-post.