~Prayer is the very core of life. Prayer is either petitional or in its wider sense is inward communion. In either case, the ultimate result is the same. Even when it is petitonal, the petition should be for the cleansing and purification of the soul, for freeing it from the layers of ignorance and darkness that envelope it. The one who hungers for the awakening of the divine within must fall back on prayer. But prayer is no mere exercise of words or of the ears; it is no mere repetition of empty formula. Any amount of repetition of God's name is futile if it fails to stir the soul. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. It must be in clear response to the spirit which hungers for it. And even as a hungry person relishes a hearty meal, a hungry soul will relish a heart-felt prayer. Without prayer there is no inner peace.
~Prayer is not an asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is a daily admission of one's weakness. The tallest among us has a perpetual reminder of his nothingness before death, disease, old age, accidents, etc. We are living in the midst of death. What is the value of "working for our own schemes" when they might be reduced to nothing in the twinkling of an eye, or when we may be equally swiftly and unaware be taken away from them? But we may feel strong as a rock, if we could truthfully say, "We work for God and God's schemes." Then all is as clear as daylight. Then nothing perishes. All perishing is then only what seems. Death and destruction have "then, but only then," no reality about them. For death or destruction is then but a change. An artist destroys his picture for creating a better one. A Watchmaker throws away a bad spring to put in a new and useful one.
~We may miss many things in life but not prayer, which implies our cooperation with God and with one another. Prayer should be a bath of purification for the spirit of humanity. Physical health suffers if we do not wash our bodies; similarly the spirit becomes unclean if the heart is not washed with prayer. Please therefore never be negligent in prayer.
Reference~ Mohandas Gandhi Essential Writings by John Dear
~Prayer is not an asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is a daily admission of one's weakness. The tallest among us has a perpetual reminder of his nothingness before death, disease, old age, accidents, etc. We are living in the midst of death. What is the value of "working for our own schemes" when they might be reduced to nothing in the twinkling of an eye, or when we may be equally swiftly and unaware be taken away from them? But we may feel strong as a rock, if we could truthfully say, "We work for God and God's schemes." Then all is as clear as daylight. Then nothing perishes. All perishing is then only what seems. Death and destruction have "then, but only then," no reality about them. For death or destruction is then but a change. An artist destroys his picture for creating a better one. A Watchmaker throws away a bad spring to put in a new and useful one.
~We may miss many things in life but not prayer, which implies our cooperation with God and with one another. Prayer should be a bath of purification for the spirit of humanity. Physical health suffers if we do not wash our bodies; similarly the spirit becomes unclean if the heart is not washed with prayer. Please therefore never be negligent in prayer.
Reference~ Mohandas Gandhi Essential Writings by John Dear
