Tuesday, 1st Week: Thoughts Need Not Cut Us From God

"When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven..." (Matthew 6:7-9)

Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say that our thinking is "unceasing." Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt, feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of unceasing thought, of paralyzing thought? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer my making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with God, who is the source of all love. Perhaps posing a simple question like the following may help this "conversion": "God, what do you think of ... how do you see this ...?"

Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds.

Henri Nouwen

"O Holy Spirit, convert my never-ending flow of thoughts into prayer."