Prayer as a peak state
The Last Supper from Mel Gibson's "The Passion"
I can spend hours writing, reading and sitting at the beach and not notice the passage of time. Psychologist Mihaly Cziksentmihaly calls this peak state of bliss “flow.”
Yesterday evening, I spent about three hours in church and was shocked to find I’d been there that long. It was only when I called home to say I was on my way that I noticed the time. Sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament and reciting several Rosaries while I waited for Confession made three hours disappear. My husband asked me what had happened to me and I could only say I’d been lost in prayer.
I was conscious that the young woman behind me in line for Confession was fidgety, but I was able to overcome the interruptions. She tapped her feet, exhaled loudly, banged my purse many times and squirmed in her place. As I dove deeper into my prayers, I began to notice her impatience less.
When I asked her if she wanted to stand in front of me, I saw that she was embarassed, although I had not offered my place in order to shame her. I offered her my spot in case she wanted to be one turn ahead in line, which was the only remedy I could offer her.
With my Lent meditations and my Rosary, I spent time with Jesus in silence and with my mind focused on reconciliation. Quieting the heart and soul is one of the fruits of prayer during Lent and especially during Holy Week.
Today is Holy Thursday as well as the beginning of Passover. With our “older brothers,” as Pope John Paul II referred to the Jewish people, we will celebrate the mysteries of our respective faiths. After all, what were Jesus and the Apostles celebrating at the Last Supper but their Passover Seder? The bread and wine were part of the Passover table before Jesus transformed into his Body and Blood.
Hours spent in prayer are never wasted. Dorothy Day once wrote that small acts of mercy are like pebbles cast in a pond to create ever-widening ripples. So it is with prayer. Whether we have the luxury of spending hours or seconds in prayers, this time can always yield spiritual fruits.
