Habits of the heart

‘… Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.’(Mark 1:35)

Mark 1:29-39 (Year B: Lent -2)

Jesus was busy. Very busy. Chapter 1 of Mark is action packed with the following:

The baptism and testing of Jesus;

• The beginning of Jesus’ ministry through a proclamation of the good news;
• Calling of the first disciples;
• Expulsion of evil spirits;
• Healing of many; and
• Praying in solitary places.

Praying in solitary places is not just for monks, spiritual nerds and other people with time on their hands. Praying in solitary places is for everyone including people who say they are atheists and agnostics. There is a hole in every person’s heart to be filled with awe, wonder, conversation, asking, thanking and even cursing at times (the psalms can come in handy for this purpose!). The point is that everyone needs space and time to simply ‘be’. The story goes that the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, said ‘I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours of my day in prayer.’  In recent times, Dag Hammarskjöld a former Secretary General of the United Nations said that, because of his busy schedule, he got up an hour early to pray. When he was ‘extra busy’ he got up two hours early for the same purpose.

Spending two to three hours in prayer is not an option, I suspect, for most ordinary people like you and me. However, quiet times and spaces are a must.  A story is told that many decades ago a novice in a certain religious congregation who had not yet learned the art of ‘seeking forgiveness more than permission’ asked a sister who looked after novices if it was OK to smoke while praying. After a firm ‘NO’ she paused for a moment and asked ‘But, would it be OK to pray while smoking?’  High five!

The point of prayer is a ‘lifting up’ (some of us will remember our old ‘Green Catechism’) and opening out while going in….going into a secret place in the depths of our hearts that goes beyond space, time and consciousness.

Seriously.

And simply. 

Manuals, textbooks and various types of ‘guides’ tend to overcomplicate what is an all together natural and wholesome thing for humans to do. We, the busy ones, are merely joining the rest of creation by resting in the anguish and glory of ‘Being’.

Pick your times and your place or places.

It might be on the top of the first bus into town for work (the driver can always wake you if you fall asleep before reaching the terminus!). It might be a little corner of your bedroom where you place a picture of a loved one, a bible, an icon or some other ‘reminder’.  It might be a place of fondness on a mountain or by the sea. And, crucially, it could be a place in the middle of a busy congregation gathered together to pray and break bread.  Just as the novice, in the story above, ‘prayed while smoking’ Christians delight to ‘pray while eating and drinking’ at the Eucharist. But, after some time in prayer the reality is that ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ (Mark 1:36)

The morning is a precious time of the day. As it says in the Psalm (5:4):

‘In the morning you hear me; in the morning I offer you my prayer, watching and waiting.’

Watching and waiting early, very early in the morning. A tonic for a weary, thankful and hopeful soul as a fresh day begins. It is written in Isaiah (30:15):

‘..in quietness and trust is your strength..’ (‘A new spring in your step’)

Or in the first book of Kings (19:12):

‘And after the fire came a gentle whisper’

That still small voice that whispers gently to us in the quiet of the house or streets as the sun is rising.

And, as a brother at the community of Taizé has put it:

‘So many Christians find in prayer the courage to take on responsibilities. Rooting themselves in the very wellsprings of Christ, they run the risks of faith.’

By going to the wellsprings deep within us (we are baptised, actually or by entrusting) we find the courage and the faith to risk everything while remaining rooted in the here and now and all that we are called upon to do this day. And just as the morning is the key to the day, the evening is the lock for the night.

Together let us praise the Lord for ourselves and others.