“Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is letting God talk to you.”
—Yogi Bhajan
I was brought up to pray—to recite prayers about God, about Jesus, about Mary, about life. In my prayers, I also apologized for things I’d said and done. I sought forgiveness for being mean to my brothers, for missing Mass, for stealing candy, and more.
As I grew older, my prayers took on a different tone. I prayed for the health and happiness of my four children. I prayed for my friends. When my mother was sick in the hospital, I prayed for her survival—and then when she was dying, I prayed to God to take her and care for her. When my father was struggling with Alzheimer’s, I prayed that God would help both him and us get through it. When my son was in an accident I prayed to God to spare him, and I promised I’d never ever miss Mass again. (I didn’t keep that promise, and I’ve had to pray for forgiveness.) Then when my own life unraveled, I prayed for guidance, for help, for support.
As time marched on, I continued to pray—for faith, for forgiveness, for wisdom. But it’s only been much later in my life that I’ve come to meditation.
Meditation didn’t come easily to me. In fact, I was a mess of a student. So a friend gave me a gift of some sessions with a meditation teacher. “This will help,” she said.
The teacher sat across from me for three days straight while I fidgeted, got up and down, checked my phone, talked, walked around, even cried. I couldn’t get still. Couldn’t sit with myself, with my own thoughts, my own inner-ness and inner mess.
But I did stay with it, because I knew I needed to. I knew I needed to get below the surface. I knew I needed to find the calm. I knew I needed to be able to embrace the quiet, so I could listen to God talk to me, talk within me. So I just plain kept at it, and that made the difference.
Now every day I meditate. I start my day in stillness, and I love it. I pray, I reflect, I meditate. I ask for guidance, and I wait for the answer. I pray, I reflect, I meditate, and then I do it all over again.
I recommend prayer and meditation to anyone who wants not just to tell God what you’re thinking and feeling, but also to hear what God is trying to tell you, teach you, and show you. I recommend it to anyone who wants to turn their inner mess into inner peace. Amen.
Dear God, may I spend time with you every day, quieting the cares and concerns that make so much noise in my mind, heart, and spirit, so I can hear your wisdom and feel the love you’ve given me every day of my life. Amen.