PRAYER

Dear All of Us,

Yesterday I saw presence, pure presence.
It happened  on the Red Line of the Metro  
right here in Washington, DC.

A young father and his little boy were sitting together.
And what a together.
There was a peace and calm about them,
a relaxed intimacy,
a subtle, gentle joy.
Amid all the riders, ear budded or cell phoned into elsewhere isolation,
was this little boy feet up on the seat,
snuggled into his dad,
the two of them absorbed into each other 
and in together reading a book.
It was pure presence.
It was divine.
It was what prayer is.

                        Prayer is presence

Prayer is presence - now, here, absorbed in God.
Prayer is presence so absorbed in God that it is intimate.
Prayer is presence so intimate that it is love.
Prayer is presence of such love that it is unitive.
Prayer is presence so unitive that the two are distinctly One. 

                        Prayer is presence

       God is present everywhere and in everything.

             Prayer is being present to the Presence

                                 
Prayer Presence is like that little boy and his dad on the Metro -
snuggling up and being absorbed into a unity.
That oneness can happen  wherever and however we are.
God is already there.
All we need to do is show up,
open up to the Presence of God.
In prayer we do just that.

                        Prayer is living in the Presence of God, 

                     anywhere, everywhere, always:
               
               - eating - sleeping - working - playing - suffering
               - achieving - creating -  correcting - helping
               - healing -  loving - forgiving - learning - teaching
               - touching - listening - speaking - dressing -
               - reading a book together on the Metro                      
                    anywhere, everywhere, always.

Let's all take a break here adding to the list more and personal
where's and when's of God Presence in our daily lives.
Then slowly sense how we can be present to the Presence -
                             
                      anywhere, everywhere, always

By the way, to be present really isn't hard work.
It really isn't.
In all truth it's exactly the opposite.
Again, the little boy and his dad.
Like them we just need to ease into where we are and God already is.
We don't have to make anything happen.
We just need to let it happen,
and let ourselves be one with it.
  
           
God is Being Itself. 
All that "be's" is in God's Being.
All energy in every form is God Energy.
That God Energy presences in matter and spirit.
So wherever we go, whatever we experience is God Present
in one form, fashion or another.

It's not hard, but it does take time to relax enough
to accept God's presence and offer ours in everything from 

                     - taking a shower to going to work
                     - having supper to getting the car serviced
                     - dealing with conflict to having a party
                     - bailing hay to attending a concert
                     - striving for social justice to taking a vacation
                     - meditating to paying bills
                     - going to church to reading a great novel 
                              - just being quiet to savoring scripture.

We go to our room, close the door and be present to
the Presence that is our Father -
just as the little boy and his dad did on the Metro.

Next time you're in DC be sure to travel the Metro Red Line.
It's really a place of prayer, 
a place of presence.

God Loves You And So Do I,

           John Frank

              *****

Welcome to all new here.
Your presence is a blessing.

     "frankly speaking"
 spirituality for the street

- is posted Thursday evening
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All sorts of things effect how we are





Prayer is conditioned by all of life,

                          our age and maturity
                          our upbringing and experience
                          our time and place in creation




    




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