Ongkingco
Among the interesting similarities between prayer and coffee is how they both stimulate the person. Coffee is often enjoyed for its exotic flavors that keep one going. Prayer, on the other hand, awakens the soul to God’s graces and inspirations.
A common and important thing to have quality coffee and prayer is preparation. Without sufficient and careful preparation, neither coffee nor prayer can render something human and spiritually satisfactory.
Since prayer, unlike coffee, isn’t something we can taste, one can conclude that serious preparation isn’t necessary. This isn’t quite so. In “The Art of Praying” R. Guardini observes:
“No one with a serious task before him will approach it unprepared, but will concentrate on the demands he has to face. If we appreciate good music we shall not arrive at the performance at the last minute, allowing for no transition between the noise and unrest of the street and the opening bars of the concert. (…) Anyone who has the right feeling for things which are great and important will, before tackling them, banish distraction and recollect himself inwardly.”
Now prayer isn’t just any activity. In fact, there are few human engagements like it. It is in prayer, and only through it, that one places himself in God’s presence, listens and encounters the divine.
Guardini states that one who takes this committed dialogue with God is not only exercising his “thought” and “action.” He must, so to speak, activate his inwardness.
“(…) in other words, the very things which in man corresponds to the mysterious holiness of God. In everyday life this inner faculty is silent or at best just faintly noticeable, for man is wholly occupied with the worldly aspects of his being, living as it were by his worldly powers. But if prayer is to be true, then that which belongs to the sphere of the holy must come into its own.”
Thus, he concludes with a very important lesson: “Prayer will be as good as the preparation for it.”
The idea reaching our inwardness is like preparing coffee. To enjoy a good cup of coffee, we must first ground the beans so that its essence can mix with the hot water and be savored.
In the same manner, if we are to bring out the flavors of our conversation with God, we must also allow ourselves to be ground, that is, to make the sacrifice of preparing ourselves for prayer.
As there can be no perfect coffee, there is therefore also no perfect prayer. For example, we don’t have the leisure time to brew a good cup. Likewise, we might be pressed by certain things that don’t allow us to pray intensely. But if we strive in the best way possible to approach the desired perfection through a sincere preparation, then that prayer would have been worth the while.
So what are the types of preparation for prayer? Following our coffee-prayer analogy, there are three possible ways of enjoying coffee”: (a) The quick three-in-one or instant coffee; (b) a prepared blend we would buy from a coffee shop; and (c) creatively mixing our own blends.
Instant preparation. Sometimes we don’t have time, for example, to grab a book for our prayer. Thus, we try our best to put three simple ingredients together: recollection of the external senses (naturally, when driving we may not be able to do this well). Reflection, to awaken our interior senses (i.e. focusing mind, heart and will on some easy spiritual theme like thanking God, making acts of faith, or praying for others on the road, etc.). Finally, at least a resolution which could be further concretize in a more peaceful moment of prayer.
Prepared blends. As some people buy a specific blend, we too in prayer may acquire a particular taste or theme. For this we could turn to a spiritual adviser who can give us some clear lines to tackle in prayer. This is not meant to straightjacket one’s spiritual life, but as a guide to cover the many rich areas of the Christian spiritual-ascetical itinerary.
Mixing our own blends. We need not wait too long to experience coming out with our own creative blends. As long as we are determined to pray, that is, not giving in to the slightest excuse to put off our prayer, then we will gradually acquire a healthy taste to talk with God. With time, the prepared blends will become an inner reserve from where we can draw our own flavors in our colloquy with Jesus.
In all these preparation modes, the soul must always remember not to forget the hot water. This, spiritually speaking, is God’s grace. It is what works wonders for our blends, so we may mysteriously and magnificently absorb His inspirations and set off to carry His will energetically!