Growing In Prayer

If we are taking the teachings of Jesus seriously and doing our best to imitate him and grow more completely in love with him and in love of neighbor, taking the advice of a spiritual director and reading books on spirituality and prayer, we might find ourselves longing for more TIME for prayer. How else are we going to accomplish this goal?  We might desire to have the leisure to ponder as Mary did and allow the word of God to fall like seed on the fertile soil of our hearts and just grow and grow. We are frustrated, however, for as much as we try to find the TIME, it eludes us, a victim of our "duties of state". i.e. the things we have to do because of our roles, our jobs, or because the needs of others call us to give of ourselves beyond what we have planned, to eat into that precious time we have allotted for prayer.  What are we to do?   We are caught.
However, a close look at the lives of Jesus and Mary does not reveal the luxury of pondering daily for endless hours;  they were busy.  With Jesus, it was walking from place to place, hours preaching, teaching and healing;  with Mary, the duties of wife and mother without the microwave or the washing machine that lighten those household tasks today.  For them, it was those very roles, duties and tasks that produced the fruit that comes from prayer:  service to others.  Fr. Ron Rolheiser calls this "the prayer of charity,"  Done with love, the most ordinary things can be the imitation of Jesus and Mary that we hope to accomplish.   May we then go about our days with peace and joy, knowing that we are following in these sacred footsteps that lead us to union with our Father.
Bro. Rene