I Am Not Alone

I spend an hour or more each night in an adoration chapel.  There are three nearby, and I DO recognize how blessed I am compared to most of the world.  Today a friend mentioned that Catholics she knew from Los Angeles did not know what an adoration chapel was, much less have an opportunity to visit one.  How sad!  Christians often talk about having a relationship with Jesus Christ, but how can you have a relationship with someone you rarely visit, or rarely talk to?  How can you know a person if you don’t spend time with Him?  Churches which have adoration chapels or scheduled adoration hours have been shown to have significantly more young people choosing religious vocations --- not a surprising thing.  They get to know God, and see that spending their life with Him is the best life they can live.

I’m reading a book right now, Contemplative Enigmas by Fr. Donald Haggerty, which offers short thoughts on the path to deeper prayer.  The thoughts resonate with my heart, inspire me, but I am afraid they would bore many Christians.  The words would confuse them, such as “Deeper prayer consists, not so much in an exchange of words, but in the silent communication of eyes gazing at each other.”  Praying in silence?  No words, yet communication?  Most would quickly offer a comment about being bored.  I don’t think they would get past the first few pages of Fr. Haggerty’s book before putting it down. 

A woman in my local coffee shop talked to me about her efforts at prayer, confessing “I can’t do that meditation thing.”  I gave her a copy of The Better Part, showing her its three- or four-page meditations on the Gospels, short but with some depth.  I’m not sure she has the patience to even read three or four pages, because she has “so many important things to do.”  Sort attention spans --- the world today seems focused on not being focused.  And among friends, I am respected yet thought a bit strange, for spending so much time in an adoration chapel.  Talking to God --- “What does He say?” is a common quick response, asking for a quick answer.  Fr. Haggerty wrote a book in answer to that question.

I love spending time at the end of my day in the quiet of an adoration chapel.  I know God is there.  I can perceive His presence.  It’s not like walking into the living room of my house; I live alone.  When I walk into God’s house, I am not alone.  “What does He say?”  Well, some things are such news to me that I “report” them here on my blog.  And other things He says are just the same ol’ same ol’ that friends talk about, but the conversation is never boring among friends.  Just spending time with a friend, even if no words are spoken, is time well spent, especially so if that friend is God.