We Americans want everything in a hurry. Yet an interior life, dedicated to the practice of prayer, is not the work of a year, or even ten. We of the high-strung western world seek the natural outlet of nervous energy in action. It takes us a long time to discover the fact that mental activity can become the best and most satisfying kind of action, that is interaction, which takes place between God and the Praying Soul… There are two main pitfalls on the road to mastery of the art of prayer. If a person gets what he asks for, his humility is in danger. If he fails to get what he asks for, he is apt to lose confidence. Indeed no matter whether prayer seems to be succeeding or failing, humility and confidence are two virtues, which are absolutely essential.
Thomas Merton, Fifty Years with the Golden Rule by J.C. Penny (New York: Harper, 1950), p.83 as quoted in One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America by James P. Moore, Jr. Doubleday, 2005. p. xxii
No comments:
Post a Comment