Saturday afternoon, I went for a long (for me) bike ride. Hot sun burned my arms, warm wind kept the sweat at bay. I rode between fields of soybeans and corn, under the cooling shade of roadside trees, past farm houses and barns. Killdeers, the little fakers, called my attention to themselves so I wouldn't notice their nests. Passing me carefully, a few cars and pickup trucks went on their hurried way. I enjoyed the scenery.
Toward the end of the trip, as I relished the easy speed coming down from an overpass, I realized that I hadn't thought a single thing for some time. I, who so often lives in my head, had not one thought for at least 10 minutes. I just rode. As that thought crossed my mind, another was on its heels: what if this is prayer? What if this bicycle ride, this joying in the golden sun and the warm wind, is wordless prayer? At that moment, I was absolutely sure that the entire experience connected me to God.
What if it's all prayer? All that we do, all is connected to God? What if the good, the bad, and the ugly are all done in his presence, and it is OUR presence that is missing? Our absence of mind, our absence of attention, our absence of desire - these don't prevent prayer, but rather prevent us from realizing our prayer, God's presence? Prayer is always without ceasing, we just don't know it.
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