Last year I was sick for all of Lent -- the kind of humbling you really don't want to say anything holy about.
This year, the flu shot from last autumn worked; I did not catch so much as a sniffle, for which I am truly thankful. And I went into Lent prepared with a Lenten resolve: Not To Be So Spiritually Lazy.
I subscribe to this great publication, Magnificat, which has morning and evening prayers, a daily meditation, the readings from the Mass of the day, and inspiring stories and essays. This year, I decided to use that prayer guide as a means to put prayer in its proper context.
What is the proper context for prayer? Because God is All in All, Creator of Matter and Energy and Time, and because God is aware of all his creations, I believe there is nothing more important in our lives than prayer -- communication with God.
As God holds all of Time in His presence, when I communicate with God, I communicate as well with everything else. Maybe it's a little like being in a choir: perhaps your voice doesn't stand out -- but then, in a choir you don't want to overshadow the other singers, just make a greater music with them; perhaps your voice isn't as good as the clear sopranos who carry the main melody, -- but your voice is still a contribution. The "music" reaches out to the whole audience -- some of whom are checking their cell phones for Tweets, some of whom have fallen asleep, some who have eyes on their companions, wondering if they still love them, if they're wearing underwear, if they're picking up the tab for dinner after; some are checking their watches to see how much time they still have to spend listening to the music.
The thing is, while I commune in prayer, it doesn't matter if no one or nothing else seems to be impressed, or hear me. The communication itself is its own validation.
Because the One who always hears, always listens, always whispers back ... is God Most High.
It was a good Lent. Upon awakening, I would tell myself every day that there is nothing I can do that is of more importance than prayer ... and by the end of Lent, I could see that that was true.
Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.
