PRAYER AND UNITY OF LIFE
To give oneself to God one must
leave one’s own self behind. Love is ecstatic by
nature: in loving strongly, one lives in the other more than in
oneself. But how could we practice that ecstatic
dimension of love in our prayer, even to a small degree, if for
the rest of the day we seek ourselves? If we are too
attached to material things, our comfort, and our vanity? If we
cannot bear the slightest setback? How can we live in God
if we cannot forget ourselves for the sake of our
brothers and sisters?
— Time for
God, p.39
We should also be aware that
our whole lifestyle can favor or hinder mental prayer.
How can we be recollected in God’s presence if the rest
of the time we are distracted by a thousand superficial concerns and worries,
if we take part in pointless gossip, if we fail to discipline our hearts and eyes and minds, so
as to refrain from everything that could turn us away from what is Essential?
Of course no one can live without some amusement and times of relaxation. What
matters is that we be always able to return to God (since it
is he who supplies the unity of our lives) and to live every
moment under his eyes and in contact with
him.
—Time for God, p.40
It is
also very important little by little to learn to live out every
part of our lives under God’s eyes, in his presence and
in a sort of ongoing dialogue with him, recalling him as
often as possible in the middle of our occupations and keeping
him company in all we do. The more we try to do this,
the easier mental prayer will become. (It’s easier to find
God in times of prayer if we have never left him!)
Thus
the practice of mental prayer should lead to continual prayer,
not necessarily explicit, verbal prayer, but rather
a constant awareness of God’s presence. Living under
God’s gaze like that will set us free. Too often, when
we feel other people’s eyes on us, it is because we fear
their judgment or crave their admiration; and if we are
always watching ourselves, that may be complacency at
work—or guilt. But in learning to live under God’smerciful, loving gaze, we find
only inner freedom.
— Time for God, p.41
