Distractions (01/16/2024)

This morning, I began my day as usual, on my porch with a cup of coffee for prayer. It started well, as usual, with me thanking the LORD for another day. I started to bring my concerns to the LORD, seeking direction, praying for others for whom I’d promised to pray. As I ended my prayer for others, I reached for my cup of coffee, took a sip, and realized my lip almost got stuck on the cup rim. Suddenly, all I could think about was how cold it was and how I was going to explain a Belleek coffee cup frozen to my lip to others. I looked at my thermometer. It was 12 below and it felt like 20 below. And I realized this wasn’t a distraction, this was the LORD reminding me of others for whom I had not thought.

I’m old. That means that I have had a lot of time spent in prayer. And truth is, my mind sometimes wanders and needs to be herded back by the Spirit. But then there are “distractions” that aren’t really distractions, rather they are “divine redirections.” Take this morning for example; when the cold really hit me, when my lip nearly permanently locked onto my cup, I realized just how cold it was. And the LORD used that moment to enlarge my prayer and my concern for my sisters and brothers.

So, this morning, I sat longer with the LORD, suffering the cold as my homeless sisters and brothers, praying for them, for their safety this day, for means within the community to reach out to them, give them safe harbor. And I began to wonder if within my small community there are individuals with no shelter. I honestly don’t know, but I should.

There are real “distractions” and “diversions” in prayer. It is not the LORD. When in the middle of the prayers at mass, I think of groceries I need, those are diversions that need to be swept away, pushed aside. But if at that same moment, I notice someone in the pew ahead of me weeping, that is not to be pushed aside. Caring for my sisters and brothers is one of the ways I express my love for the LORD. I recall the gospel this week where Jesus cures the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. There were those who believed it was wrong to do anything but pray during this time. However, Jesus corrected them. It is never a bad time to do a good and loving thing.

It's up to us to read the signs. Is it a diversion or is it a divine redirection? Do we need to shake it off and give ourselves more wholly to the moment of communion with the LORD? Or is the LORD drawing us closer by expanding our world to include the needs of others?

Our journeys are blessed. And evil does try to distract us with shiny objects and selfish dreams. But we have been given minds and hearts to discern goodness from evil. Let us seek to stay on the way but also to stop and tend to the needs of others as we go. Perhaps they, too, will journey on with us as a companion.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.