WHEN DISTRACTING NOISES come, don’t fight against them, do not elbow them out, but accept them and weave them by prayer into the silence. Does the wind rattle the window? Then pray, “So let the wind of the Spirit shake the Christian church into life,” and absorb it into the silent listening. Does a child cry in the street outside? Then pray, “So cries my infant soul, which does not know the breadth of Thy heart,” and absorb it into the silent listening prayer.
– Thomas Kelly
The Sanctuary of the Soul
I used to fight distractions, or feel guilty because I give in so easily. Especially when it comes to personal prayer. The first time, I heard something similar to the above quote, was during a session on Spirituality by an Old Testament professor and pastor from Australia. He gave a fresh advice on just following what comes to mind, and use the floating thoughts as points of intercession, and as you slowly exhaust each thought in prayer you’d be surprised how much time and ground you have covered.
He also explained "meditation" using worry as an analogy. Worry is a form of meditation, where we keep on repeating what is occupying our attention for better or for worse. So, "meditating" is a very natural thing for humans, the question is more of "what are we meditating on?" or "what are we paying attention these days?". I thought that was really helpful until today.
The drilling coming from my left has stopped which is good. I think the neighbors are doing some renovations. But fighting that loud intrusive noise wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I decided just to let it be. The whole morning was entering into conversations with myself, God (especially through the Scriptures), and what is buzzing in the world these days. Oh … the drilling just started again. Well, that’s life .. unending noise. But listening prayer is still possible, it’s just a matter of getting used to it 🙂
that note on “worrying” is very helpful for anxious ppl like me. 🙂
z – once “worrying” can be translated to “praying” .. it works “wonders” 🙂