Reflections By Dr. Richard Reed

November 04, 2006

One of the activities I participate in when I am on vacation is reading books, more books than normal. Maybe it is an occupational hazard to be avid reader, or maybe it is just a drive within my heart, but I read books all of the time. When I am on vacation my book reading just seems to naturally increase and I will read 3-5 books per week. One of the books I recently read while taking a few days off contains the following passage about prayer.

The author wrote these words as he reflected on Luke 11:1, “He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’”

The road to God is never as straight and smooth as we wish it were. More than once I’ve been surprised by the wisdom passed along to me from other pilgrims on the path. That’s how I discovered that I needed to unlearn some of my prayers. Let me explain. Many years ago, I traveled to a monastic community for a retreat. I was searching for answers to spiritual bends in the road at that time – especially as they related to my vocation. So, I thought a week of solitude and spiritual direction would help and made my way to Mirfield, a historic monastery in the North of England. I’d long admired the Mirfield Fathers, men of the faith who also lived and worked among the longshoremen of the Docklands in London. They had also been instruments of peace and reconciliation in South Africa long before Apartheid ended. I sensed that these men would help me understand where I was in my journey and what recent rumblings in my soul meant.

I took meals with the community at Mirfeild, took lots of walks, reread T.S. Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets’ yet again, and sang prayers in the company of the brothers… The discipline with which they sang their praises and laments to God embodied the very pathway of the artist in prayer…I also visited with Brother Peter, a spiritual director I’d known from my seminary days. I hoped he might point me in the right direction, or have some word of Scripture that would set me on a path toward wholeness. But what he actually had to say surprised me: “Let the prayers of the church be the prayers of the church,” he advised me. “Say them without ceasing, but when you turn from them, be present in the moment of the task God sets before you. Let your sculpting be your prayer. Let your painting be your prayer. Let your breath be your prayer. Nothing more. Just be with God.”

In other words, Brother Peter told me unlearn what I knew about prayer….He was right. I’d discovered enough freedom with God to be able to pray more openly.

When we open our hearts to God and discover all that God desires to impart to our minds and souls, we find a new and dynamic relationship with our Creator. I pray that God will lead your heart, as you pray.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Richard