How Do You Pick the Lock into the Escape of Prayer?

 “We draw near to God by no corporeal steps since he is everywhere.”

~ St. Thomas Aquainus

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Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to live the life of a hermit? Of, say, living in one of St. Brendan's monasteries back in 5th century Ireland, and spending all day, every day gazing out at the ocean and contemplating God and his universe? 

My cousin has. When he's particularly snowed under with commitments to his children, his wife and his career, he pines for weeks upon weeks of solitude and silence.

I decided to splash cold water on his fantasy by reminding him he wouldn't last one week sleeping on a stone floor, eating nothing but a few eggs and a handful of berries each day, and bathing in ice cold water during the winter months.

With a deflated look on his face, he conceded.

But what is the allure of that lifestyle, really? Because many of us have it from time to time. Its peace and simplicity and devotion seems to completely elude us amidst the secularity and noise and complications of modern life.

Must it, though? Is there a passageway from a world of busyness into a world of peace, of connection and of “being” with God?

Five simple ingredients: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and orange rind.  
Many of these are sold in bulk at the grocery store.  

An Autumn Bonfire

My friend's been discussing an autumn bonfire for several weeks now, flipping between weekends as she forecasts upcoming commitments and activities. When a friend announced he was leaving town in a week, it came together right away.

She mowed the lawn, and encircled chairs around the backyard fire pit. She purchased pumpkins, set up her sound system, and strung large, white light bulbs between tree branches. I provided cider mulled in ginger, cloves, and orange rinds. Another guest made chili using three different meats, served over rice with trimmings of cilantro, sour cream and cheese. She provided marshmallows and dark chocolate.

It was an evening of conversation, connection, warmth and camaraderie. In the milieu of the crackling logs, the heat of the flaming fire, the comforting food and the music, we shared our stories and perspectives. The conversation drifted from who built the pyramids, really, to why they faked the moon landing, to what alternative currency is better, crypto or precious metals, to how 5G technology can track us using the graphene oxide in the vaccines.

It was a good time. A great time, now that I reflect on it.

A Recipe

The following day I discovered a tasty alternative to cider: mulling the same ingredients in hot water. The result reminds me of Market Spice Tea from Pike Place in Seattle.

If it seeps for some time, the concoction becomes so flavorful it tastes sweet—yet no sugar’s been added.

Ingredients for one cup:

• Orange peel (a small piece)

• 2-3 cloves

• 2-3 allspice berries

• 1 slice of fresh ginger

• 1/4-1/2 of a cinnamon stick

Add the ingredients to a cup of boiling water and allow it to simmer for a few minutes.

Variations:

• Add a teaspoon of brown or white sugar.

• Add a scant amount of vanilla or almond extract.

• Mull the same spices with cider on the stovetop, set to low, for 20-30 minutes.

It’s a super simple drink to make, and since it’s caffeine free, it’s suitable for any time of day.

A Secret Doorway

I've been mulling on this idea of escape these days.

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is in our midst (Luke 17:21). It appears, then, that this passageway into the world of prayer isn't so remote and inaccessible as a monastery on an island off the Western Coast of Ireland. If this escape is right here, then, prayer isn't a matter of “getting there,” but one of perceiving what is always right in front of us.

So why can't I much of the time? Living amidst piles of dirty laundry, looking at a desk full of clutter and to-dos, and responding non-stop to messages on five or six apps on my phone, I don't feel like I'm experiencing the kingdom at all.

It seems, somehow, that picking this lock requires the right tools. It requires some preparing, some setting the scene, some gathering and compiling various elements, in order to create an atmosphere that fosters conversation, connection, warmth and camaraderie—with God.

When Jesus prayed, he went off by himself into the desert, climbed a mountain, or awoke before the sunrise to converse with God in darkness.¹

Why did he seek out special places? He certainly knew that God is everywhere, so why didn’t he just stay at home and pray? 

It’s as though Jesus needed to be properly disposed to receive what was already right in front of him. Maybe these settings cultivate the detachment necessary to commune with an invisible God, who is ever present, but who exists outside of our understanding and senses.

And what did they talk about, I wonder? Certainly they both have the answer to who built the pyramids. And the answers to many, many more conundrums besides. 

As it turns out, this drink gets me into a spiritual state of mind.  
The spiciness of cloves, ginger and allspice pairs nicely with the sweetness of the rosary!

What insights do you bring to this topic? Do you have any ingredients for creating an atmosphere conducive to prayer?

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1. Mark 1:35, Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16.

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Simplicity & Beyond: Finding God in Present Moment

Fear lives in the psychological space where God is absent. Every second is a creation, an act of re-creation. God is recreating us and giving us the opportunity to be who He wills us to be. If you walk around with that thinking, you are never alone, and there is no space where fear can set in.   -Doctor Vladamir Zelenko

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear. 1: John 4:18

Have you noticed how your outlook completely changes over the course of a week or two?

I had a friend call me out of the blue a few weeks ago and we talked for over two hours. Her call felt like someone reaching out and taking my hand in the midst of a dense, impenetrable fog.

I had been in my room crying the night before; the sense of nowhereness this pandemic had thrown my life was at an all-time high. Plus, I was feeling the consequences for not playing along and getting vaccinated. The hatred came from all directions; friends and family members, the state, and the media.

And then, a few weeks later, she called again. And I was amazed at how much my mind-set had shifted in that short space of time. My life had energy and clarity and momentum that had been completely absent three weeks earlier.

Without paying attention to the details of our lives, it's hard to account for these shifts.

Recognizing God in the Present Moment

According to Zelenko, in order to meet God, all we have to do is Be. Here. Now. Remaining in this recognition comes with a great incentive: we live without fear! (Do you walk around acknowledging that you're never alone?)

If God is right here, he probably isn't keeping entirely silent.

How do we recognize this voice? And what, if anything, does He ask?

It's So Simple 

Many Doctors of the Church profess the simplicity of God.  

You are simplicity itself.   -St. Augustine ¹

The nearer one gets to God, the simpler one becomes.   -St. Therese of Lisieux ²

God is no wise composite, but is altogether simple. Every composite is posterior to its component parts, and is dependent on them; but God is the first being. Every composite has a cause, for things in themselves different cannot unite unless something causes them to unite. But God is uncaused.   -St. Thomas Aquinas ³

Simplicity, it appears, is a fundamental characteristic of this God who meets us here in the present moment.

This certainly provides clues on where not to look for God: in the complicated, the overwhelming, the confusing. Not in rambling words or complex thoughts.

How would a simple being communicate?

In all likelihood, with clarity. Startling, almost abrupt clarity. With direct words and phrases that get at the heart of the matter; Jesus often spoke like this.

And so identifying the simple in our day is one way to recognize God in them.

(As I've written about in a previous post, I think the simplicity of the Illumination of Conscience is one of the central reasons we can conclude it comes from God.)

It's Personal 

From my own experience and speaking to others, and from scripture, it's clear this communication is very intimate. Psalm 139 tells us:

Lord, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you know it all.

People are drawn to different spiritualities (Ignatian, Carmelite, Franciscan, Benediction) and devotionals based on their personalities, preferences, and cultural heritage. Some take great stock in dreams, or journaling as a way to pray. For others, it's far more intellectual.

That is to say, a prerequisite to hearing God speaking in the present moment is, as the Delphic maxim says, to know thyself. 

Also, we can anticipate communication from God will be very, very intimate: closer than a good friend.

It Brings Quiet 

It's very hard to distinguish between thoughts or messages that come from ourselves and those that come from God. St. Teresa of Avila wrote about this at length, with respect to discerning locutions. However, I think her criteria applies across the board:

The words the Lord speaks.......touch the soul, giving it light, favor and bring it quiet. ⁴

A fruit of God's presence is peace. And so looking for God in our day means identifying those people, situations, and encounters that bring about peace.

(Note: St. Teresa is VERY wordy, and so I truncated this quote without, I’d say, altering its meaning. The entire quote is in the footnotes.)

He'll Ask a LOT 

So God speaks to us simply and personally---and a fruit of this voice is peace.

But what of the substance of what he says? What does he ask?

Although scripture provides many answers to this question, Jesus provides one that applies across the board:

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.   -Matthew 16:24

“Must” indicates a fundamental requirement; the cross is part and parcel to being in relationship with Jesus. And so accepting the cross is a way to encounter God in the present moment.

Identifying one's cross (which difficulties to accept, which to avoid) is a discernment process. But any Christian can rest assured they'll be presented with one (or two).

Amidst the Cacophony

Oh, it's so basic, listening to your own life: noticing patterns, identifying relationships and how they affect us, noticing a shift towards or away from certain people and affiliations. Our dreams, sleep patterns, money spent, food eaten. All the incidents and circumstances in which God meets us.

Yet, with so much going on just in one single day, it's hard to filter through all the goings-on to identify the correlation, say, between a shift in mood and a program we listened to, or eating patterns and a stressful relationship.

That is to say, recognizing where God is and where he is absent necessitates a deliberate practice.

St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises merit a call-out here, although I don't profess to proficiently understand nor practice them. His examen, (done at the end of each day) is a practice of identifying moments of desolation and consolation; i.e. where God was either present or absent in circumstances, events, relationships.

One thing I never got about the examen is this idea that desolation is supposed to be a sign of God's absence. However, accepting a cross oftentimes yields despair and discouragement.

Anyhoo, for me, simply transcribing what occurred during a week, or over the course of a month, brings me to a more conscious awareness of all aspects of my life. Rather than simply shuffling through the events of the day, it forces me to pause and look at them.

Who has come into my life? What activities have I been drawn to? What, if anything, might God have been telling me in a dream, or through a series of coincidences?

It's VERY interesting to read back through these entries. I certainly notice developments over the course of several weeks or months. And the hand of God at work in ways that weren’t clear in the moment.

For example, during a year when I traveled the world, on three separate occasions I coincidentally ended up in a city where a friend or family member was visiting at the same time. This happened in Dublin, Porto, and London. It struck me as an uncanny coincidence in retrospect, and I interpret it as God providing me with companionship in a place where I'd otherwise have been on my own.

With respect to the episode I related at the beginning of this article: when I looked through everything that transpired during the three weeks in which my mood shifted so dramatically, I identified several things to attribute it to. One was registering to attend the Porcfest in June of 2022. Having a future plan, with people who are (hopefully) sympathetic to my POV, put a completely different framing around my circumstances.

Well, if you've followed my somewhat meandering thought process up to this point, then here you are.

What about you? Do you have any practices that you use to listen to God in your everyday?

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1 The Confessions. St. Augustine, Chapter 4^↩ 

2Story of a Soul. St. Therese of Lisieux, Chapter 8

3 Summa Theologica Part I, Thomas Aquinas. 1213. Question 3

4 Volume 1: The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD & Otilio Rodriguex, OCD, 1976. Pg 163. “Another sign more noticeable than all the others is that these words composed by the intellect do not produce any effect. Those the Lord speaks are both words and works. And even though the words may not be devotional ones but words of reproof, they dispose the soul and prepare it from the very beginning, and they touch it, giving it light, favor and bring it quiet. And if the soul suffers dryness, agitation and worry, these are taken away as though by a stroke of the hand since it seems the Lord wants it to understand that He is powerful and that His words are works.”

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Achieving a Spiritual State of Mind

When seniors in high school, my friend’s parents, who were always kind of strapped for cash, took her out to an artsy, gourmet restaurant one Friday night.  And over dinner, communicated they wanted her going to Macalester College over UC Berkeley.

“They didn’t come out and say it.  It was just strongly implied they felt this would be the best choice for me.  It was a very awkward and strange evening,” she told me later.

Yet where did she end up going?  Macalester. 

Why am I relating this somewhat sickening upper-middle class anecdote?  To demonstrate that when communicating a message, context is crucial. 

Is it even a game changer?  What if her parents had the same conversation on a Saturday morning, over a kitchen table strewn with newspapers, coffee cups, and household cutter? 

Of course it’s impossible to know.  But given their financial constraints, her parents clearly chose the context deliberately.  And achieved their desired outcome. 

Plunged into the Unknown

How does this relate to God and to prayer?  In my experience, a whole lot. 

John 4:24 says “God is a spirit”.  And so in order to communicate with Him, you need to move beyond the time/space realm and into the realm of the spirit.  It’s not easy to “get” there.  I’ve found that certain contexts make me WAY more attune to this spiritual realm and allow me to speak and listen to God more effectively. 

As I wrote about in an earlier post, I received my most lucid locutions when my life was in a “nowhere” state: after graduating from college and before I’d found a job.  The noise of people, commitments, involvements, daily activity, stress, and events, was reduced to a dull roar.  I’m inclined to think Jesus took this window of opportunity to talk to me in plain speech with clear, unequivocal interior and exterior locutions. 

I’ve also noticed a heightened spiritual awareness when plunged into the UNKNOWN.  Recently I traveled to Kenya, which was my first time to the African Continent, and first time below the equator!  The situation, honestly, felt so foreign that I may as well have been on Mars. 

While there, my dreams took on a wildly lucid quality.  I could write 500 words on them upon awakening, recalling every single detail.  In my normal life, I often immediately forget my dreams the minute I open my eyes—as my thoughts quickly turn to the activities of the day. 

This isn’t exactly to say that Jesus spoke to me at this time, but more to point out that my psyche was more attune to the spiritual realm in this unknown, foreign context.  (As I explained in a previous post, I think dreams are one window to this spiritual realm.) 

Does My Theory Hold Water? 

Up to this point I’ve simply related my personal experience.  Does it amount to anything more than a lot of modern-day woo-woo?  Is my next line to recommend you pull a tarot card and light a candle the next time you want greater insight into a your life? 

Let’s turn to Scripture.  The Gospels recount where Jesus, our Messiah and master of prayer, spoke to God. 

“Rising very early before dawn, he went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35 

“And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.” Mark 6:46                                           

“He would withdraw to deserted places to pray.” Luke 5:16   

“He departed to the mountain to pray and he spent the night in prayer to God.  When day came, he called his disciples to himself and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles.” Luke 6:12

Mark and Luke consistently cite deserted places, mountains, and night as times and places places Jesus sought out for prayer.  What about these places might make them suitable for entering into a spiritual state of mind? 

The desert and night have a “nowhere” quality to them.  The desert has an absence of visual stimuli that allows one to enter a contemplative state.  And night epitomizes nothingness and the unknown. 

A mountain offers other spiritual qualities.  It reaches into the heavens, and oftentimes offers spectacular scenery that cause the spirit to soar and reflect on the beauty of God’s creation. 

Something else is clear from these passages: Jesus spends considerable time in prayer before making a big decision.  I wonder at his level of exhaustion the next day when he chose his apostles.  In any event, in praying for the entire night, He certainly whole-heartedly recommended the decision over to God.

And what of other people from the Bible?  Of course it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but I’d also point out Paul, who, after his dramatic vision on the road to Damascus, says that he:

“did not immediately consult flesh and blood…rather I went into Arabia then returned to Damascus.”  Galatians 1: 16-17

It was only after three years of withdrawal that Paul says he finally consulted Cephas (Peter).  This is to say that Paul, too, withdrew into some sort of solitude as he sorted through this life-altering vision. 

Perhaps he withdrew to the desert regions of Arabia, though that is speculation.  However, as he was from Tarsus and had spent much of his life in Jerusalem (Acts 26:4), Arabia was probably a relatively unknown area for him. 

When God Does the Talking

“I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert, and speak to her heart.”  Hosea 2:6

In this verse from the prophet Hosea, God relates where He plans to communicate with His wayward Chosen people: in the desert. 

In Exodus, God literally draws the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert, and over forty years, establishes His special covenant relationship with them.

And so it’s a two-way street: according to Scripture, God takes us into the desert when He wants to speak to us, and we too venture into the unknown in order to talk to Him. 

Seeking Out Solitude

Does all this mean when we seek out lonely places, or journey into the unknown, that we’re intrinsically closer to God?  According to St. Thomas Aquinas, no.  He writes in Summa Theologica: 

“We draw near to God by no corporeal steps since he is everywhere, but by the affections of our soul.” ¹ 

This means we can talk to God, and He to us, anywhere, including busy and chaotic places: with noisy children, driving at rush hour, and during crazy and tumultuous times in our lives.  And no, according to Aquinas, we aren’t any closer to the BVM at Fatima than we are in our own homes. 

But certain contexts makes us more ATTUNE.  To listening.  And developing this relationship.  And so in order to have a good relationship with God, it makes sense to habitually seek out these places and spend time with Him. 

Where might we find them, specifically?  Silence and solitude seem scarce in our noisy, busy world, but if we deliberately seek them out suitable spaces emerge.  Many Churches are open and empty during the day: offering a wonderful opportunity for quiet time.  Or a park, or nature trail, that perhaps is empty in the mornings, is another good spot.  Or even a room in our home that doesn’t get a lot of use, can be a perfect place for prayer. 

If nothing else, even a coffee shop with a pair of noise cancelling headphones can put us into a good listening space! 

Additionally, if we find our lives in a desert of sorts; divorced, in a career transition, unemployed or having moved to a new community and so alone much of the time; God may have chosen this context deliberately.  And be hoping to draw us into closer relationship to Him.

It Isn't Easy

“I went to the place where I usually prayed alone and, being deeply recollected, began to talk to the Lord in a foolish way, which I often to without knowing what I’m saying.  It is love that is then speaking, and the soul is so transported that I don’t notice the difference there is between it and God.” ² 

St. Teresa of Avila, too, sought out quiet places where she communed with God.  

Although, she also reminds us, the path to developing this skill of listening and praying to God isn’t smooth.  It requires much work on our part, especially in the beginning. 

“The greatest labor is in the beginning because it is the beginner who works while the Lord gives the increase.” ² 

What About You?

Do you have a story of parents trying to sway your big life decisions? 

Was there any period in your life when you felt especially close to God?  What characterized that time? 

And what are the best times and places for you to pray? 

 

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1 Summa Theologica Part I, Thomas Aquinas. 1213. Question 3.^↩ 2 Volume 1: The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD & Otilio Rodriguex, OCD, 1976. Pgs 230 & 80.

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KISS: The Skinny on How to Recognize God

Earlier this year, I ‘blind-watched’ Charlie Wilson’s War.  I knew nothing about it, didn’t pick it out: just sat down and watched it.  In one scene, the camera faces two characters head on, as they walk alongside a hedge, engaged in a highly unrealistic and cerebral discussion. 

“Ah ha!” I exclaimed. “The Walk and Talk!” 

Sure enough, Aaron Sorkin, famous, er, almost notorious, for his often parodied Walk and Talk scene, directed Charlie Wilson’s War. 

The tell was so strong; unmistakeable.  I didn’t need to know anything else about the movie to know who had directed it. 

God and Simplicity

How do we relate to an invisible God?  This perplexing question makes believers wring their hands, and causes other to give up on God altogether. 

Part and parcel to having a relationship with God is understanding who He is.  What is He like?  Does He possess a “Walk and Talk” characteristic; i.e. something so distinguishing that when you see it, you remark: “Ah ha! The work of God is here!”

In The Confessions, St. Augustine writes that “God is truly and absolutely simple.” 

St. Thomas Aquinas comes to the same conclusion in Summa Theologica, where he affirmatively answers the question: “Is God altogether simple?” 

Here is Aquinas in his own words:

God is no wise composite, but is altogether simple.  Every composite is posterior to its component parts and is dependent on them.  But God is the first being.  Every composite has a cause for things in themselves different cannot unite unless something causes them to unite.  But God is uncaused.” 

Nothing composite can be predicated of any single one of its parts…..No part of a man is a man, not any of the parts of the foot a foot, but in whole, made up of similar parts.

In every composite there is something which is not “it”, itself...And so, since God is absolute form, or Absolute Being, He can be in no way composite.” ¹  

To simplify, (ha ha) I think Aquinas is saying that simplicity is fundamental to God’s being because He isn’t made up of many parts, nor was He caused by anything: He is simply God. 

(Please note: if you want to understand the entire logical sequence that Aquinas uses to draw his conclusions, I'd recommend reading Question 3 of Summa Theologica Part I in its entirety). 

To put it another way: the reason we can say that God is “all good” and “all loving” is because He isn’t made up of many parts: He is just one part.  That is to say, then, that the most fundamental characteristic of God is His simplicity.

Simplicity in God's Movement

As simplicity is so fundamental to who God is, when discerning if something is of God, its simplicity can be a tell.  Just like the Walk and Talk with Aaron Sorkin: it’s an identifying mark. 

Where do we see examples of this simplicity?

Our Salvation

In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Saint John Paul II describes God’s plan of salvation as “simple”: 

The history of salvation is very simple.  And it is a history that unfolds with the earthly history of humanity, beginning with the first Adam, through the revelation of the second Adam, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45), and ending with the ultimate fulfillment of the history of the word in God, when He will be “all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:28). ² 

The Warning

The Warning, or Illumination of Conscience, which is widely spoken of and speculated about these days, is also an entirely simple conceit or phenomenon. 

During The Warning, in essence, God will reveal Himself, then tell each of us, individually: “Hey, here are all the ways that you’ve messed up.” —And then, by implication, give us the opportunity to seek reconciliation, conversion, and so repair our relationship with Him. 

It’s so simple! 

As I see it, the profound simplicity of The Warning the strongest indication that it comes from God.

Meandering Final Thoughts

What does the Walk and Talk suggest about Aaron Sorkin?  Perhaps that he thinks conversation is key to solving a problem or advancing a storyline. 

And what are the implications of knowing God is fundamentally simple?  Certainly it provides clues in how to listen and speak to Him.  

How does a simple Being communicate?  Generally, I’d think, with alarmingly directness (as exemplified with the Warning).  And how would He hope that we speak to Him?  Probably on similar terms—which gives us an important clue in how to pray! 

And some more speculative questions: if we know God is absolutely simple, does it then follow that everything that is simple is of God?  Or what about the contrapositive of this statement: if something is not simple, then is it not of God? 

And what is simplicity, exactly?  What are some concrete examples of it? 

These are some fun philosophical questions to mull on.  Perhaps I'll flesh them out another day. 

However, Aquinas and Augustine provide us with a really significant key to knowing and understanding our “Simple, Invisible” God. 

What’s your take?  How to you identify and recognize God in your life?  Or what's a tell in a movie that suggests to you who directed it? 

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1 Summa Theologica Part I, Thomas Aquinas. 1213. Question 3.^↩ 2Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul II, 1994. Pg 58.

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