This story is told by the Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber. It's a simple story that many of us, in our busy lives, can relate to. Note how the prayer of the busy man is heard and how he is held dear by God... Note how important in the story is the time for Afternoon Prayer...
The Baal Shem said:
"Imagine a man whose business hounds him through many streets and across the marketplace the livelong day. He almost forgets there is a Maker of the world.
"Only when the time for Afternoon Prayer comes does he remember, 'I must pray.' And then, from the bottom of his heart, he heaves a sigh of regret that he has spent his day on vain and idle matters, and he runs into a bystreet and stands there and prays...
God holds him dear, very dear, and his prayer pierces the firmament.
- From the Tales of the Hasidim by Martin Buber
For us, Lent is the time for Afternoon Prayer...
Lent is a time -not an hour in a day but a season in a year- to remind us that it is time to stop and to pray... and to trust that God will hold each of us dear, very dear... and that our prayer, imperfect though it may be, will pierce the heavens...
Make time to pray... Take time to pray... Lent is the time, and the time is here...
-ConcordPastor
Thank heavens you refer to *afternoon* prayer. I keep being trapped by the assumption that if I am to add a Lenten practice of a regular time for prayer to my day, it must be at the start. With that assumption, I just can't do it. I'm not awake until I've showered, dressed, and breakfasted. By that point I have to head out the door or I'll miss my bus!
ReplyDeleteBut the afternoon.... there's that time somewhere between 3:00 and 4:00 when I go into the office kitchen and put on the electric kettle for a cup of Assam or Russian Caravan. There's the 3+ minutes while that kettle is working up to a boil. What if, instead of checking the newspapers in the common area nearby I were to stand still in that little kitchen and open my heart silently? When I'm back at my desk sipping the too-hot tea until it's cool enough to gulp thirstily, what if I were to go to a website that has the daily office? What excellent ideas!
Thanks!