CLOSER THAN SKIN ON SKIN

A different kind of prayer; this is what I’m here to learn, isn’t it God. A new kind of prayer where I’m not asking, asking, asking or even thanking, thanking thanking. It's simply being with you long enough to realize that you are in me and I am in you. Instead of running away from a sheer silence, it’s staying in place long enough to let it run into me, through me. You, I see now, are that silence, God. You are not only in the solitude. You are the solitude.

We humans are always running either toward or away from you. But there is no running to be done, is there? It’s in the cessation of running that we deeply experience your presence--and just as deeply discover who we are. We discover that you are fully present, that is, present in all your fullness. In other words, you are always here, always now...so that we can be the same; fully present here and now...with you and with each other.

That's your standing invitation isn't it; for us to be fully present to, with, and finally, in you. This is true prayer, and new prayer..."new"because it makes us new. It takes some getting used to, God. Feels elusive, but it’s not. You are closer than skin on skin...closer than my breath to me…closer than each beat of my heart. True prayer is the continuous re-cognition of this, your presence...your fullness. Nothing less. And there is nothing more.

To pray without ceasing is to carry this awareness into every notion, every emotion, every action, every transaction.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances..." 

(I Thessalonians 5: 16-18a NRSV)