Posted By Christina M on December 1, 2014

I was thinking today about worry, and all the things I worry about… and there were a lot. I’m a certified worrier. But then I think about all the things I’ve worried about that haven’t come to pass; and I realize that I don’t even remember what most of them were. Maybe they weren’t as important as I thought at the time that they were. And those that did come to pass? They didn’t destroy our life. And worrying didn’t stop them.

Prayer simply works better than worrying.

But… so far we are still talking just about earth prayer. Earth prayer is when I pray for my earthly needs, or my earthly concerns. Not all of them are “gimmes” but they are about the things that matter to me in this life, from the selfish (please let me get such and such) to the unselfish (please help me to be a better person) to the compassionate (please help the victims of the latest catastrophe.) But they are all about this life and its concerns. And there  is nothing wrong with praying for this life and its concerns. Bless my friend. Heal my child. I offer you this day, Lord. These are good prayers. They contact God and invite him into my life. They connect my life with the love of my Father.

They are probably the prayers Martha prayed. And she had a good lot; but Mary chose the better lot. Because she prayed a different kind of prayer, as well.

Mary didn’t just bring God into her world; she brought herself into God’s world. That’s what meditative and contemplative prayer are made of. When we stop looking at our world, and start looking at Christ’s.

My beloved is mine and I am his.

He pastures his flocks among the lilies.

A shepherd doesn’t plant lilies in the wild grazing pastures on faraway hills. He doesn’t plant them in enclosures where sheep normally live. He plants them in his very own garden, within the walls of his very own courtyard. Our Shepherd is inviting us to be fed at His own home. When our prayer is so stuck in the here and now that we forget to glance in the direction of His lilies, it is as though we didn’t even recognize that we are invited into His courtyard, on the very edge of Heaven itself. And we keep grazing away at the dried summer grasses on the wild hills, and begging our Shepherd to water us. Patiently, He leads us to still waters to drink; but all the while He is inviting us to taste the springs that flow from Paradise.

When you have a need, pray for that need. When you have a friend, pray for that friend. These are good, good prayers. But don’t forget to gaze at the Shepherd in His own garden, too. Don’t just invite Him into your world; accept His invitation into His, as well.

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