Drawn, Not Dragged

Learning to return—prayer in day-to-day life You are sitting quietly in the early morning, reading the Scriptures or an account of one of the saints.You begin the Our Father, then offer the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”For a little while, your scattered attention settles. You are

Part Two: When we pray—and nothing seems to change We cannot always see what God is doing. But we must also acknowledge plainly when the healing or relief we sought has not come.My childhood friend John died in his twenties. After his sister’s wedding, he caught what seemed to be a cold. His health then

What Are We Doing When We Pray?Part One: Prayer—Coming Before Our Father Over the years, in parishes, in seminary and at public gatherings, I have noticed what can happen when someone is asked to pray aloud. The person freezes. Colour drains from the face—or rises into it! Occasionally, they look as though they would welcome

When another’s good feels like our loss The first labourers were not angry when they received their denarius. (Matthew 20:1–16)They became angry when they saw the same denarius placed in someone else’s hand.Nothing had been taken from them. The householder had kept his promise.Their wage became intolerable only through comparison.That is one of envy’s strangest