Before Thomas Merton entered the Abbey at Gethsemane as a Trappist novice he visited the place and was drawn to something profound there. He called Gethsemane the powerhouse of America. No doubt other Abbeys and Monasteries were making their own contribution. The need for this kind of positive spiritual energy is no less pressing today.
We have our own spiritual powerhouse at Hyning Hall where the Bernadine Cistercians pray daily for the world with a particular interest in our own Diocese of Lancaster. They pray for us. We are welcome to join them for quiet days, for retreats, for a single office.
Such was the case on Saturday May 9th when thirty or so people from our diocese gathered together for a retreat day on the theme of “Prayer is for everyone”. We drew water from the deep wells of our tradition exploring the monastic prayer of lectio divina, Ignatian imaginative contemplation, and joining in the midday office. After a wholesome lunch the afternoon was spent finding God among the acers and azaleas of the garden, reflecting and later sharing on how our continuing formation as Christians might be facilitated in our diocese. At the end of the day the Ignatian examen helped us to notice where the Spirit was inviting us to life.
If you’re anything like me you don’t see yourself as being in the premier division of prayer. I think I’m rather non-league and failing to make the play-offs. I begin all my retreats apologising to my director about how bad I am at praying. As a prayer guide, it’s an admission I hear from others too. If I’m looking with a self-critical eye at my technique and ability to focus, no wonder I’m unimpressed. However, when I remember that prayer is relationship and that God looks with the eye of love, delighting whenever I show up, my perspective changes.
In addition to those classical ways of praying which are also for everyone, there are so many other ways of praying and some of them we hardly recognise. Our horizon of what constitutes prayer may need to widen. The very journey to a monastery, or to a parish church for mass, a mountain in the Lakes or our own garden is already the prayer of pilgrims seeking God with each step. Every desire for a deeper connection is prayer. Each apology for being scattered is prayer. Every act of love involves implicit prayer that connects us to Christ. When you nurture your children, care for your parents or spouse, love your neighbour or your neighbourhood, you nurture, care for and love Christ. There is connection with him in all this (see Matthew 25), and if there is connection, there is prayer. All of you do these kinds of things. Prayer is for everyone.