Highway Miles

"Every one of us needs a half an hour of prayer every day, except when we are busy. Then we need an hour." 

--St. Francis de Sales

Anybody who has shopped for a used car knows the kind of miles it has been driven is important. A car with 100,000 highway miles may be in better shape than a car with 60,000 miles that has only been driven around town on short trips. The reason for this is that short trips are harder on the engine; the car never really gets a chance to warm up to ideal operating temperature, so there is more sludge and sediment in the engine.

Our prayer lives can be kind of 'start-and-stop' as well. When our day-to-day is so busy that we can only spare 10 minutes of prayer in the morning, or a quick Hail Mary or Our Father in the car, this is good and better than not praying at all. Unfortunately it doesn't always allow us the time or space to enter 'into the deep' of resting in the Lord for an extended period of time--the prayer equivalent of contemplative "highway miles" that are beneficial for the spirit.

In the Catholic tradition we have a devotional practice called a "holy hour"--prayer for one hour before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The practice finds its root it scripture, when Jesus asks his disciples who are with him in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion: "Could you not keep watch for one hour?" (Mt 26:40; cf Mk 14:37)

When I set aside an hour to be with the Lord in an Adoration chapel (our parish has Adoration on Mondays and Fridays, but some have 24/7 or 'perpetual' adoration chapels), I initially find that it takes me a good fifteen to twenty minutes to really settle in. I have to fight the initial impulse to get up, or do something. "Just being" is hard; it takes practice. But this is really all the Lord expects of us in this hour--to be present and available, to rest in His love. "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls," as the Psalmist writes (42:7). Sometimes I fall asleep if I am tired. This isn't ideal, but I think the Lord understands here as well. As St. Therese of Lisieux writes, "The fact that I often fall asleep during meditation should appall me. Well, I am not appalled; I bear in mind that little children are just as pleasing to their parents asleep as awake."

When the sediment of thoughts and ideas and appointments settle down after that first twenty minutes or so, it gives the Lord white space in which to quietly speak and write on our hearts, as when Elijah found himself in a cave waiting on the Lord:

"There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord--
but the Lord was not in the wind;
after the wind, an earthquake--
but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
after the earthquake, fire--
but the Lord was not in the fire;
after the fire,
a light silent sound." (1 Kings 19:11-12)

This is when things get interesting. I never really know what is going to happen. Sometimes the Lord stirs my heart to emotion, tears, gratitude, or sorrow for my sins. Sometimes it is a fervent desire to bring people in my life and their intentions before Him. Sometimes the silence is enough, and it is rest. Sometimes I am simply fighting temptation, restlessness, and arrows of thoughts that fly from corner to corner, and simply offer the time to God as an oblation. Whatever happens, I find much of the dross in the mind is burned away after that first half hour, and the last half hour is more fruitful than it would have been had my prayer not gotten past that initially 'warm up' period.

If an hour as one extended block is too daunting, a helpful way of approaching it may be to split up the hour into twelve 5 minute sections, focusing on a different area of prayer in each section (for instance--forgiveness, scripture reflections, intercessions, etc.) I often do this with exercising or running, telling myself, "Just make it to the stop sign." Then when I do, I say, "just make it to the fence." Then "make it to the soccer field." Then before I know it, I've ran a mile in twelve, 120 meter stretches.

It may not be realistic for us to spend a solid hour every day in silent contemplation (though the Lord would certainly use that were we able to offer it). A car that only typically sees around town trips, it's good to take it out on the highway once a week to get some extended run time. Maybe our prayer life should see some similar 'extended run time' from time to time?

We give so many hours to so many things in our lives--movies (2 hours); exercise (1 hour); sporting events (4 hours); sleep (8 hours); wasting time on the internet (3+ hours). Think about investing an hour a week with the Lord. Believe me--you won't see returns anywhere close to the dividends he pays out.