Same Old, Same Old?

It's hard to believe that I've not visited this blog since July. What's even more difficult to believe is that we're already in the midst of October. I know that these kinds of rants about how quickly time flies are nothing more than clichés, but they're important considerations in the spiritual life.

Remaining tethered to God and each other through prayer, both private and communal, is our opportunity to allow time to slow down and, if done correctly, nearly stand still. My personal favorite time of day to pray is in the morning. The light is soft, the air is chilled and house sounds are muffled. Be evening, I feel so frazzled that it's hard to find the energy to "let go" enough for prayer which, as I write it, seems somewhat oxymoronic.

Developing normal patterns and routines are important in our prayer lives. Praying at the same time and in the same place everyday can give us enough stability that invites us into a habitual pattern that frees us from having to plan or think about it prior to simply doing it. But these habits develop over time and with repetition. Oftentimes, in the midst of developing the habit, a crisis or unusual circumstance arises that throws us off course. By the time we shake off the distraction, we feel out of sorts or guilty, perhaps, and find ourselves dismissing the habitual pattern we originally sought out to establish. This is where true spiritual maturity and discipline play an important role.

The spiritually mature and disciplined person is able to shake off the temptation to throw in the towel after the first disruption occurs. In fact, the spiritually mature and disciplined person grants themselves enough freedom to be disrupted from their routine once, twice, or many times over and still repeatedly return to their attempt at habitual prayer without guilt, shame or discouragement. So, it's not that the spiritually mature or disciplined person doesn't fall victim to failure in their spiritual practices. Rather, the spiritually mature and disciplined person tries again...over and over.

God doesn't expect perfection of us any more than we expect perfection of our own children. Instead, God invites us into places of fidelity. Fidelity, that is, faithfulness, is what draws our hearts back to Him no matter how many times we forget to show up in our prayer lives.

Even though it feels like our lives are moving at warp speed and we get so far down the calendar that we're somewhat embarrassed to show up in front of God at the appointed prayer hour that we've missed for days, weeks or months, if we swallow our pride and simply show up, we will discover a familiar embrace during those prayer hours. By practicing this type of fidelity over and over again, the same old, same old becomes a familiar blanket of love instead of a chain of burdens.

Who wouldn't want to crawl under that blanket and let time slow down?