The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on August 10th, 2022 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Quiet prayer is a time for resting. I can let go of my need to perform, to do, to fix, and to have. When I let go of words and images, I can just “be” in the silent Presence of God. That is my best intention. In order to rest, I try to empty myself of every distracting thing.
But then, as I approach the still silence of God, hoping for a bit of the sweet delight of rest, I have to face myself. I realize that in fact, I am empty of nothing! Despite my best intentions and most disciplined efforts, I remain so full of everything!
Thankfully, God meets me, meets us, just where and how we are. From full of intentions to empty of illusions, the Holy One’s loving embrace spans deep and wide enough to let everything unfold and be just as it is.
From this insight, I gain comfort and feel the sweet delight of what it means to Be Loved. I can be more at ease. I can trust that unconditional Love finds a way to pour through me, even when I feel full of so much else.
Surely, even as I scurry to empty my lifeboat of so many buckets of distraction, the Hand of the Holy One is always, already at work within me, holding and tending the empty space through which Love pours in and back out.
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