Merton: Prayer as Distraction
“If my prayer is centered in myself, if it seeks only an enrichment of my own self, my prayer itself will be my greatest potential distraction..” Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude
Pilot and Co-pilot
Thomas Merton reminds us what our prayer life and the rest of our life as well becomes when our prayer life is centered on ourselves, our own desires, our own needs, our own knowledge. Merton calls this kind of life a distraction, something that keeps us from the truth, a diversion, a disturbance of the mind, a hindrance. We think we are doing everything right, but in essence we are back where we started with our world centered on ourselves rather than God.
We may think that God is our co-pilot, but we are the pilot. We have such good ideas. God is there to make certain that our ideas, our prayers are answered. I only have to think about all the prayers that I prayed for that were not answered that later I learned would have been disastrous, the boyfriends who never gave me the time of day that I would have sold my soul for. I also well remember the prayers that were answered that became harmful, the jobs I thought I had to have, the co-workers I just knew would be perfect.
As friends in recovery say, “our best thinking got us here.”
When we do not say to God, "thy will be done," it seems his answer to us may sometimes be, "your will be done."
Merton is calling us to the prayer of surrender, turning our prayers as well as our life and our wills over to God, “thy will be done.”
This kind of prayer and prayer life also calls for acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, and most of all love, knowing that we are loved and offering in turn that love.
Joanna joannaseibert.com